Postpartum sexuality: a study from Turkish women’s perpectives

Abstract

This study is a descriptive study conducted to determine women's views on sexuality in the postpartum period. This study was conducted in the postpartum clinic of a state hospital in a city in Turkey. The study sample included 355 women with 95% confidence and 5% margin of error. The data was collected through questionnaire which were conducted face to face interviews. Chi-square test was used in statistical analysis. The average age of participant women is 26.31 (SD=5.54). The 51.3% of women agreed that “it is a sin to have sexual intercourse within 40 days following the childbirth”. There is no significant difference between primipara and multipara women in the sense of agreement frequency of this statement (p>0.05). On the other hand, the 46.8% of women agreed with the statement that “Resuming sexual intercourses after birth would be difficult” and 46.5% agreed “Sexual intercourse after birth would be painful”. There was a statistically significant difference in the acceptance rate of these statements between multiparous and primiparous women (p<0.05). According to these results, it is recommended to address the issue of postpartum sexuality within the scope of both prenatal and postnatal care services.