The relationship between attitudes and sexual function in pregnant women referred to health centers - medical city of Hamadan in 2017

Backround and objective: Sexual intercourse is effective in marital life. And the changes that occur during pregnancy affect couples' sexual relationships. And since people's attitudes are influenced by how they behave, and in order to change their behavior or to exhibit the right behaviors, they first need to change their attitudes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between attitude and sexual function of pregnant women referring to comprehensive health centers in Hamadan city in 2017. Materials and Methods:  This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. 260 eligible pregnant women were selected randomly from Hamadan comprehensive health centers. Data collection tools included questionnaires of women's attitude and sexual function during pregnancy, It consisted of 5 questions of personal information, 12 questions of sexual attitude and 19 questions of sexual function during pregnancy. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 21 using descriptive and inferential statistical tests at the significant level of 0.05. Result:  Most respondents were in the age group of 26-35 years. Most sexual beliefs in pregnancy were related to fear of harm to the fetus as a result of activity (63.1%) and fear of abortion (51.2%). The Pearson correlation test showed a significant correlation between the two variables of sexual beliefs and sexual function of women during pregnancy (p <0.001). There was a significant relationship between desire for pregnancy and sexual attitude as well as age and duration of cohabitation and sexual function during pregnancy (P <0.05). Conclusion: According to the results, sexual attitudes and beliefs of pregnant women are not appropriate due to misconceptions and therefore it is recommended to educate pregnant women in health centers as well as in clinics in order to raise awareness and change mothers' attitudes. Their misconceptions and beliefs have disappeared and many of the problems and difficulties of this era have been alleviated.