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The question of the psychological impact is at the heart of the experiences of patients undergoing ART, experiences that are lived in a social context determined with these rules, these representations, its own functioning. Misconceptions also persist about infertile people who have psychological problems that affect their reproductive capacity. Women in particular, unfortunately still hear phrases like : "you know women have psychological problems, that"s why they have difficulty getting pregnant". Or the very "friendly" (sic): "you know, you should stop thinking about it and go on vacation". The "psychological" question is, from our point of view, badly positioned, badly considered, which does not allow us to approach it as it should. Sociology and psychology intersect to form the context in which the individual or the couples will experience this ordeal of life and the recourse to reproductive medicine. However, the experience of infertility, the use of ART, and the question of parenthood with or without gamete donation fully require that psychosocial support be questioned. Infertile people lose this structuring human capacity: their reproductive autonomy. They cannot reproduce at the desired time and as many times as desired. Humanly, it is a real individual, social and psychological ordeal that deserves to be questioned in order to improve its management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To study the feelings of HIV infected mothers during the perinatal period regarding circumstances of HIV diagnosis, disclosure to partner and fear of contamination. Population and methods: A study based upon personal interviews was carried out from November 2003 to January 2004 upon routine pediatric outpatient visits for infants born to HIV positive mothers. Results: This study included 54 women of which 70% were from Sub-Saharan Africa. Fifty-nine per cent discovered their HIV status during a pregnancy. Seventy-seven per cent of partners were informed of maternal status. Among the women reluctant to inform their partner, the main reasons given were fear of violence and separation. Seventy-two per cent of interviewed women refused their spouses to be informed by the medical staff. Medical care during pregnancy (moral support, delivery) was judged as good by a majority of women (90%) who found the behavior of the staff mostly satisfactory. Final child serology remains the most definitive test for mothers, 47% of whom fear the risk of a potential postnatal contamination of their children. Conclusion: In these isolated women, many of whom have recently discovered their HIV status, a multidisciplinary approach including psychosocial support is essential. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper reports the patient care experience during the trajectory of the radiotherapy. Plights are multiple. Patients are confronted with a complex and unknown distressing space, an irrelevant information, a banalisation of side effects, an isolation with a frequent inadequate support of their family or the caregivers team, with the fear of a definitive abandonment at the end of the treatment without conforting follow-up. It is imperative to state a real policy in order to improve the patient support. Sensibilisation and training of the caregivers, in spite of a frequent overbooking technical work, is required in a pluridisciplinary approach to provide a relevant reception with the collaboration of psychologists, social workers and self care groups and associations. The personal implication of the physicians and technologists is also essential. The simple smile is the intangible proof of the reliable emotional support. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

From the hypothesis that preterm labour is a physical expression of a difficulty to have a cheerful pregnancy, we wanted to assess from a literature review: - the link between stress, anxiety, and preterm birth for one part - and the medical advantage of psychosocial or psychological support among women having a high risk of preterm birth for another.According to the available publications, stress, psychological disturbances, and anxiety can increase the risk of preterm birth. However, psychosocial support is not associated with an improvement of the perinatal outcome. On the other hand, psychological support for women having a preterm labour, with or without hospitalisation, seems an interesting medical approach to reduce the preterm birth rate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]