The determination of health practices and the sexual quality of life during the prenatal period

Abstract

Objective The aim of this study is to determine health practices and sexual quality of life of women during the prenatal period. Methods The study was conducted with 312 pregnant women without threatened preterm labor who admitted to the clinic of obstetrics and gynecology in a state hospital in the Mediterranean region between June and September 2019. The data were collected by the Descriptive Features Form, the Health Practices in Pregnancy Questionnaire and the Sexual Quality of Life–Female Questionnaire. Results It was found in the study that 93.6% of the pregnant women were married, 69.2% of them had planned pregnancy and 54.7% of them underwent prenatal care for more than 4 times. The mean scores of the Health Practices in Pregnancy Questionnaire and the Sexual Quality of Life–Female Questionnaire were 87.55±5.49 and 63.88±5.95, respectively. It was observed that the health practices of the pregnant women who were younger and underwent prenatal care for more than 4 times were better. Also, it was found that the pregnant women in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters had higher scores than those in the 1st trimester. Conclusion The health practice levels of the pregnant women are low while the levels of sexual quality of life are moderate in the study.