ABSTRACT
Little is known about current attitudes in the United States toward having sex during pregnancy. It is possible that pregnant women and their sexual partners hold beliefs and have feelings during this time that might lead to sexual and relational distress. Two new scales, Maternal Sex During Pregnancy and Partner Sex During Pregnancy, were developed and administered to 112 newly pregnant couples. The scales demonstrated strong reliability and validity. Attitudes and beliefs varied across the sample, but the scores did not significantly differ between partners. These scales allow clinicians to support healthy sexuality during pregnancy by understanding sources of anxiety and possible misconceptions.
Subject(s)
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Pregnant Women/psychology , Sexual Behavior , Sexual Partners , Adult , Female , Humans , Pregnancy , Reproducibility of Results , Sexuality , Young AdultABSTRACT
Bloomington Area Birth Services (BABS), centered in Bloomington, Indiana, is a community-based program that provides comprehensive education and support for new breastfeeding mothers, infants, family members, and the community by working together with local hospitals, midwives, obstetricians, pediatric offices, and social service agencies to create a seamless continuity of care for families. To help with continuity of care in the community, BABS established a volunteer doula program (birth and postpartum), allowing BABS to combine the services of a community lactation center with birth and postpartum doulas. This article describes the volunteer doula program and highlights one client's story in an effort to encourage and motivate other communities to focus their limited dollars on the development of a volunteer doula program.
Subject(s)
Breast Feeding , Continuity of Patient Care/organization & administration , Doulas , Postnatal Care/organization & administration , Volunteers , Adult , Female , Humans , Indiana , Infant, Newborn , Postnatal Care/methods , Social SupportABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The early post-partum period is a crucial time for breastfeeding support. Mothers who have physical and emotional support during this period are more likely to be successful in breastfeeding. This study examined the relationship between father involvement and support for breast feeding initiation and duration in first-time mothers. METHODS: Overall, 146 women who attended a childbirth education class or breastfeeding course at BABS were asked to fill out the Childbirth Experiences Survey, which explored key topics such as (1) breastfeeding initiation, (2) early post-partum breastfeeding, (3) breastfeeding plan, (4) post-partum breastfeeding support and (5) breast feeding duration. This was a voluntary self-reported ques-tionnaire. The surveys were completed by the mothers during the post-partum period. RESULTS: 45.9% (n=67) of mothers received helped from their husband or part-ner with breastfeeding while in the hospital, while 54.1% (n=79) of mothers did not receive support from their partners. Mothers who received early post-par-tum breastfeeding support were more likely to continue breastfeeding after leaving the hospital. CONCLUSION: First-time mothers who identified as having breastfeeding support from their partners, the infant's father, during the early post-partum period were more likely to initiate breastfeeding and had longer breastfeeding durations.
