Understanding The Meaning Of Support Groups – Part II

The "helpful members" network of Issue, the National Fertility Association, is dealing with the kind of questions that you might not be able to ask a doctor, like whether a certain procedure hurts. Then it has a network of telephone contacts who will take calls from other people and listen to them talk their problems through. Finally it has 60 to 70 contacts, who look after an area of the country. These people are always given a short training course in confidentiality and counselling skills - but they are not qualified counsellors. The contact can and will provide help when there is not much else available, for example at weekends and bank holidays. Nationally, Issue provides counsellors and information leaflets, and runs a mail-order book service.



Child, a national organisation based at Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex, has 1300 couples on its membership rolls. It produces 34 fact sheets, a booklet on In Vitro Fertilisation clinics and a quarterly newslet¬ter. There are 30 to 40 Child local groups around the country, sometimes linked to a hospital. Local groups tend to be quite fluid, as people move into and out of treatment. The organis¬ation also provides telephone helplines to deal with the different issues associated with infertility. Many of these services are open to non-members. Access to Child's medical advisers is restric¬ted to members. One medical adviser specialises in male, another in female infertility. They will answer letters, but can only base their replies on the written information and will not get into conflict with the patients5 doctors. People can ask the medical advisers questions that they would be too nervous to ask their own consultant.



Shirley M. Duran is a mother of two and an author of a variety of related lifestyle issues and topics with which has helped hundreds of mothers become pregnant. If you have any pregnancy questions for which you need answers, it is recommended to visit: http://mypregnancyquestions.info/



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