The Experience of Pregnant Women about Sexual Relation during Pregnancy: A Phenomenological Study

Sexual intercourse is an important human behavior which can be influenced by factors such as hormonal, physical, and psychological changes during pregnancy. Identifying such factors by spouses can help them to improve the quality of their relationship during pregnancy. This qualitative study aimed to identify the experience of pregnant women about sexual relation during pregnancy. This qualitative study was done using phenomenological approach. The participants were 13 pregnant women selected via purposeful sampling, and the data were collected using a semi-structured interview, and analyzed using Colaizzi method. The findings were categorized in 108 early codes, eight subthemes and four main themes of “personal problems”, “problems related to relationship with the spouse”, “problems related to misconceptions about fetus”, and “problems related to relationship with their families”. The findings showed that personal and interpersonal factors can trigger sexual problems during pregnancy. Given that satisfying spouses in every stage of life is given health priority, and given the importance of women’s emotional needs during pregnancy which can be met through this relationships, awareness about changes during pregnancy can improve couples' satisfaction. Such awareness given by experts through training about features and changes during pregnancy. Moreover, problems in sexual relationships in marital life can suggest other problems rooted elsewhere. Therefore, in addition to appropriate training, some couples need to attend counseling sessions.