Sexual Function and Fatigue in Postpartum Women
Date Issued
2015
Date
2015
Author(s)
Chen, Hui-Hsuan
Abstract
Introduction: Women undergo significant physical and psychological changes after experiencing pregnancy and giving birth. As they develop their role as a mother, they must also readapt to their sexual relationship with their partner. After giving birth, women generally suffer from fatigue that affects their mental state, stamina, emotions, and parenting and may even change their sex life and intimate relationships. Furthermore, women who face sexual problems in postpartum period are more likely to have negative influence on their quality of life, even the marital satisfaction. However, few studies on postpartum care focused on sexual functions and fatigue, and there is little domestic research on the two issues as well. Aim: This study examined the sexual functions and fatigue of women two months after giving birth and their correlation with various demographic, obstetric, physical, psychological, and situational factors to identify the risk factors of sexual problems in women after giving birth. Methods: In this correlation study, convenience sampling was adopted to find women two months after giving birth, and a questionnaire survey was administered via mail, which resulted in 263 respondents. The questionnaire included basic information, the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), the Fatigue Symptom Inventory (FSI), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Using SPSS to analyze the data, we derived descriptive statistics for basic information, fatigue, and sexual function and employed the Mann-Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis H test, Spearman’s correlation, and logistic regression to perform inferential statistical analysis. Results: Among the respondents, 83.30% and 87.50% displayed sexual dysfunction and fatigue two months after giving birth. When the score of fatigue higher, overall sexual function and the scores of desire, arousal, vaginal lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction are relatively lower, and could be much pain during intercourse (all p < 0.05). Furthermore, women that displayed high levels of fatigue and depressive tendencies (OR: 1.02, 95% CI: 1.00-1.03), employed exclusive breastfeeding (OR: 2.87, 95% CI: 1.06-7.78) or mixed feeding (OR: 3.51, 95% CI: 1.31-9.36), expressed dissatisfaction with their partner relationships (OR: 2.14, 95% CI: 1.20-3.81) were more likely to have sexual dysfunction. Besides, physical and mental comfort, depression, daily pattern of fatigue, and the satisfaction of partner relationships, division of housework/infant care were found to be correlated to fatigue. Conclusion: This study confirmed the correlation between sexual function and fatigue in women between two and three months (5~8 weeks) after giving birth. Women with both high levels of fatigue and depressive tendencies are even more likely to have sexual problems. We therefore suggest that clinical nurses and experts enhance their assessment and advisory capabilities regarding postpartum sex life. In addition, encouraging the partners and family members of the mothers to participate in maternal and child care can provide a continuous caring that will reduce the postpartum fatigue and improve the sexual health of women after they give birth.
Subjects
postpartum care
female sexual function
fatigue
depression
feeding type
partner relationships
Type
thesis
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