Abstract

The postpartum period has physical, psychological, and social effects on women’s health, two of which include sexual function and dysfunction. The aim of this study was to identify women’s sexual function in twelve months postpartum. This descriptive study was conducted between January and May 2018 at the Well-Child Outpatient Service at Giresun University’s Women’s Obstetrics and Gynaecology Training and Research Hospital. The sample of the study consisted of all women who applied to the clinic and who met the inclusion criteria. The research population consisted of 236 women with 0 to 12 month-old children. The ‘Identification Features Specification Form’ and ‘Turkish Version of the Sexual Distress Scale-Revised (Tr-FSDS-R)’ were used in order to collect data. The Mann Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests, as well as Spearman correlation analysis were used in the analyses because the data did not show any normal distribution features. The age average of the participants was 28.68 ± 5.43. The mean Tr-FSDS-R score was determined as 7.50 ± 9.45 (min0- max52). SD was found in 24.6% (n:59) of women when the cut point of the scale (>11.5) was taken into consideration. A positive weak correlation was seen between the mean Tr-FSDS-R score of women and the average of marital year points. The mean Tr-FSDS-R score significantly differed depending on the time of sexual intercourse (z: -2.61, p:0.009), the use of contraception (z:-2.20, p:0.028), and current sexual activeness (x2:64.798, p:0.000) (p

Key words: Nursing, sexual distress, postpartum period, postpartum sexuality