The long-term psychological management of women and girls with inherited bleeding disorders

A woman with an inherited bleeding disorder faces two main challenges: managing her symptoms medically and integrating her condition into her daily life. Health professionals have an obligation to support young girls and women affected with these disorders as they negotiate the life-cycle transition of their condition. This support should include helping women to integrate their diagnosis into a new sense of self. The psychological effects of menorrhagia can also be addressed by working with key family members such as a young patient's mother or a woman's partner to prevent the experience of body shame. Couples require support to sustain their sexual relationship and to develop communal coping strategies as they face the challenges that menorrhagia brings to their relationship. These may include both fertility and pregnancy issues. Maintaining contact with the medical team can benefit women approaching the menopause by preparing them psychologically for the change and its associated symptoms.