Department of Psychology, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 2022 Jun;43(2):91-98. doi: 10.1080/0167482X.2020.1826429. Epub 2020 Oct 20.
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.
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.
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.
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.
评估性疼痛如何影响从孕期到产后过渡期的性频率变化，并研究夫妻在孕期期间的性沟通如何与性疼痛相互作用。
我们对 159 对混合性别夫妇进行了探索性研究，这些夫妇在从孕期到产后 6 个月的过渡期内完成了研究。夫妇们完成了关系质量访谈和婚姻满意度修订版，评估了他们在孕期期间的性沟通、疼痛和其他性问题，以及孕期和产后期间的性交频率。
总体而言，夫妇们报告说，从孕期到产后，性活动减少。女性在孕期期间的性疼痛仅影响到那些性沟通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，疼痛并没有影响性频率的变化（即他们像预期的那样，在产后期间经历了显著的性活动下降）。相比之下，在沟通不良的夫妇中，性频率并没有显著下降。
我们的研究结果表明，性沟通改变了性疼痛对产后性活动的影响。未来的研究应该探讨在孕期期间进行性沟通训练是否可以改善产后性健康。
