Sexual Belief and Behavior of Pregnant Women Referring to Public Health Centers in Karaj-2011

Healthy sexuality during pregnancy has an important role in marital adjustment and family stability. There are inadequate studies in this field. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate sexual belief and behavior in pregnant women during first trimester. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 88 women of 8-14 weeks of pregnancy, who had family health records in four public health center in Karaj, Iran. Data were collected using demographic questionnaires and reproductive history, self-administered questionnaires about sexual belief, concerns and sexual relationship in pregnancy that completed by pregnant women. Data analyzed by using SPSS software (version 13), independent t-test and ANOVA test. Eight subjects (9%) had received information about sexual intercourse during pregnancy from health providers and 41 subjects (47%) had received no information from any resource. 15 cases (17%) had no sexual intercourse during last 4 weeks and 62 cases (70%) reported a decrease in sexual activity compared with pre-pregnancy. The main reason of decrease in sexual activity was fear of hurting fetus. 47 subjects (53%) believed that sexual attractiveness of pregnant women reduce compared with before pregnancy. 33 subjects (37%) expressed that they had male on top position during sexual activity. 38 subjects (43%) reported man having oral sex with woman, 40 cases (45%) woman having oral sex with man and 9 cases (10%) had anal sex during last 4 weeks. There are problems and misconceptions in sexual behavior during pregnancy. Therefore, sexual counseling is necessary for pregnant women and their husbands. Therefore, interventional studies to promote sexual health in pregnancy seem necessary.