Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate how sexual pain influences changes in sexual frequency from the pregnancy to postpartum transition, and to examine how couple’s sexual communication interacts with sexual pain during pregnancy.

Methods

We explored data following 159 mixed-sex couples across the transition from pregnancy to 6 months postpartum. Couples completed the Relationship Quality Interview and the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised, which assessed their sexual communication, pain and other sexual problems during pregnancy, and frequency of intercourse at pregnancy and postpartum.

Results

Overall, couples reported a decline in sexual activity from pregnancy to postpartum. Women’s sexual pain during pregnancy influenced changes in sexual frequency only among couples who reported poorer communication about sex. Among couples reporting sexual pain and good communication, pain did not impact changes in sexual frequency (i.e. they experienced significant declines in sexual activity into the postpartum period, as expected). In contrast, among couples with poor communication, sexual frequency did not significantly decline.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that sexual communication alters the effects of sexual pain on postpartum sexual activity. Future research should examine if sexual communication training during pregnancy improves postpartum sexual wellbeing.

中文翻译：

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沟通改变了性疼痛对怀孕到产后过渡期间性频率的影响

摘要

目的

评估性疼痛如何影响从怀孕到产后过渡的性频率变化，并检查夫妻的性交流如何与怀孕期间的性疼痛相互作用。

方法

我们探索了 159 对混合性别夫妇从怀孕到产后 6 个月的过渡期间的数据。夫妻完成了关系质量访谈和婚姻满意度问卷修订，评估了他们在怀孕期间的性交流、疼痛和其他性问题，以及怀孕和产后的性交频率。

结果

总体而言，夫妻报告从怀孕到产后的性活动有所下降。女性怀孕期间的性疼痛仅影响那些报告性交流较差的夫妇的性频率变化。在报告性疼痛和良好沟通的夫妇中，疼痛不会影响性频率的变化（即他们在产后期间的性活动显着下降，正如预期的那样）。相比之下，在沟通不畅的夫妻中，性生活频率并没有显着下降。

结论

我们的研究结果表明，性交流改变了性疼痛对产后性活动的影响。未来的研究应该检查怀孕期间的性交流训练是否会改善产后的性健康。