Midwifery and Sexuality Geuens, Sam; Polona Mivsek, Ana; Gianotten, Woet L
2023, 2023-03-09
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This first open-access book on midwifery and sexuality integrates sexual health into the care for the pregnant and postpartum couple. It addresses sexuality and intimacy from an education and ...prevention perspective instead of just focusing on treating problems, aiming to foster the development of sexual well-being and happy couplehood. Sexuality and intimacy are essential elements in the bonding of the couple and the parents-to-be. That process can be seriously hampered by sexual problems due to mutual misunderstanding, fear and sexual troubles (especially when the natural processes of conceiving, pregnancy and delivery are disturbed). In this phase of life, disruption of intimacy, sexuality and sexual relationship is a significant risk factor for developing couple and family problems. The need for such a book stems from the very limited attention given to this health area in the daily practice of most midwives and related healthcare professionals. In building a close relationship with the couple through frequent, intense, longstanding contact, the midwife acquires a perfect position to address sexuality and intimacy. With 36 authors from 14 countries, the book comprises five modules: 1. Sexuality; 2. Sexual aspects of the various phases of reproduction when things develop without complications; 3. Sexual aspects when those same phases deviate from physiology; 4. Special topics on sexuality relevant to daily midwifery practice; 5. Teaching, learning, skills and competencies with regard to sexuality. This new practical textbook guides healthcare professionals such as midwives, obstetricians, gynaecologists, nurses, general practitioners, pelvic floor therapists, etc., by offering both basic knowledge and skills on sexual health and wellbeing, combined with modern sexological knowledge, like the entirely new topic of sexual aspects of preconception care.
Midwifery across the globe faces different issues. In some countries the autonomy of the profession is a tradition, while in some societies midwives struggle to practice autonomously the basic ...competencies. In one part of the world the medicalisation of childbirth is the main issue, preventing the natural processes of pregnancy and childbirth to flow at their own pace, while in other parts of the world midwives struggle with lack of resources to provide safe midwifery care. The authors of this book practice midwifery in different cultures and within different social contexts. They have to deal with different obstacles and seek solutions to diverse problems. With their contributions, they offer an insight into their thinking, their dilemmas, and the problems of midwifery practices in their countries. However, despite different backgrounds, they all have in common a uniform goal - a wish to offer women optimal midwifery care and to improve midwifery services.
•In order to achieve professional status, the public needs to admit the role of a professional group, therefore for midwifery professionalism, it is of major importance that women recognize the ...competencies of the midwife.•The Midwifery Profiling Questionnaire - MidProQ is a validated tool that can be used in defining the recognition of midwifery role amongst lay people.•This survey confirmed the results of former studies that women who experienced an obstetrician-led model of care find it hard to realize the potential of full scope midwifery practice.
The role of the midwife is well defined and midwifery education is precisely prescribed in order that students gain all competencies that derive from the definition of midwifery profession. However in Slovenia, midwives do not practice the full scope midwifery, therefore the aim of the study was to explore whether women are aware of the role that midwives have.
In order to study the lay people awareness of midwives’ role and competencies, a quanitative survey was performed using the validated Midwifery Profiling Questionnaire (MidProQ), designed by a Belgium research team of midwives, adapted to Slovenian circumstances.
An online survey was performed, using the software 1KA. The link to the survey was distributed amongst groups of women via social media.
Snow-ball sampling was used, recruiting women via gynaecology and obstetric forums.
The MidProQ is measuring the agreement of women with statements that describe competencies of midwives for prenatal, intrapartum and postnatal period. 228 fully fulfilled questionnaire were analysed with SPSS programme.
Only 43% of participants felt that midwives were capable of managing an uncomplicated pregnancy independently, however they clearly state their role in uncomplicated labour (93%). Most clearly recognised role of midwives in the postnatal period was breastfeeding counselling (89%). The role of the midwife is intertwined with the competencies of the obstetrician, who majority of participants still consider more competent for managing an uncomplicated pregnancy.
Participants were not aware of all the fields where midwife could practice.
More has to be done that lay public will recognize the potential of full scope midwifery practice, like promoting the profession via social media.
Introduction: The COVID-19 epidemic and its restrictions have affected all aspects of people’s lives, including health-related quality of life and, considering sexuality as an integral part of ...individual needs, also intimacy and sexuality. Therefore, the aim of this article was to investigate women’s sexual functioning and health-related quality of life assessment in Slovenian women in the reproductive period.
Methods: An online survey with valid questionnaires (short form 36 SF-36 and Female sexual function index FSFI-19) was conducted in January 2022. All research ethical measures were taken to ensure the integrity of the participants.
Results: The FSFI scale score was 25.37 ± 8.29, 1.18 points above the cutoff point, indicating a higher risk of sexual dysfunction (26.55). The estimated prevalence of sexual dysfunction was 36.8%, with sexual desire being the most problematic area. The mean score on the SF-36 scale in our sample reached 73.52 ± 13.84 on a 100-point scale, with 0 representing the worst and 100 the best quality of life; fatigue (x̅ = 48.50) was the most problematic category. The results partly reflect the results of foreign studies, but we must be aware of cultural differences in the understanding of sexuality and keep in mind that some countries faced difficult circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic and that social constraints were different in 2020 than in 2022.
Conclusion: The epidemic affected the sexual function of women of reproductive age and their perception of (health-related) quality of life.
Ever higher rates of infertility among the population add to the importance of promoting fertility awareness. A digital didactic toolkit was therefore developed for use as educational material. The ...cross-sectional observational study aimed to test and evaluate a didactic toolkit on reproductive health in the context of nursing and midwifery students. A convenience sample consisted of 88 nursing and 61 midwifery students, all studying full-time. An evaluation questionnaire was developed based on a literature review. The evaluation included 36 didactic tools within the toolkit, divided into 6 categories: Age and Fertility (n = 3), Understanding Reproduction (n = 2), Lifestyle Factors Affecting Fertility (n = 13), Infection Risks (n = 4), Environmental Hazards (n = 1), and Social Environment Issues (n = 13). MATLAB R2017b and SPSS v.26 were used to organize and analyze the data. A web platform providing information on preconception health received positive feedback and was reported to be 'very good' for 5 statements and 'excellent' for 3 items. The participants identified several groups that could be interested in the didactic toolkit, such as their peers, students, and couples planning a family. The participants already possessed a considerable amount of information about preconception health when they assessed the didactic tools, hence they focused more on its form and design than its content. Social media should be considered as a platform for the ongoing development of the toolkit. To ensure the content is comprehensible, future studies should include participants who are not healthcare professionals.
This study aimed to investigate whether infertility and its treatment affect couple sexuality. A systematic literature review was performed, focusing on female and male sexual dysfunctions due to ...infertility. The method was descriptive, using a meta-synthesis of scientific research published between 2012 and 2017 in the English language. The search for suitable studies was carried out with the research databases Medline, CINAHL, PubMed and ScienceDirect using the following keywords: infertility, sexual dysfunctions, couple. It can be concluded that infertility negatively affects the sexuality of an infertile couple, which is further proven by a high percentage of sexual dysfunctions (43%-90% among women and 48%-58% among men). Couples report less satisfaction with sexuality. Since lower satisfaction and dysfunctions are closely connected with infertility and its treatment, couples might benefit from sexual therapy and support during the process of infertility treatment. Further research should focus on the evaluation of different psychological interventions that would address sexuality in couples when diagnosed and treated for infertility.
Episiotomy is a surgical cut of the perineum performed in the second stage of labor in order to widen the vaginal opening and thus facilitate the birth of an infant. Despite current recommendations ...against the routine use of episiotomy, it is one of the most commonly performed surgical interventions during childbirth. This retrospective study explores the number of episiotomies performed in Slovenian maternity hospitals and the differences in episiotomy rates in relation to parity. Data were obtained from the Slovenian National Perinatal Information System and pooled for 2013. A causal and non‐experimental method of empirical research was used. The results of the study show that episiotomy rates vary widely across Slovenian maternity hospitals, ranging from 2.5% to 51.7%. Moreover, the majority of Slovenian maternity hospitals exceed the recommended rate, with an overall incidence of episiotomy as high as 31.3%. Further research is recommended to obtain relevant information from women as well as from midwives and to draw new, evidence‐based conclusions related to the maternal benefits and adverse effects of episiotomy.
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