The Effect of Interactive Educational Workshops With or Without Standardized Patients on the Clinical Skills of Midwifery Students in Providing Sexual Health Counseling.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Insufficient skills among health personnel, including midwives, can lead to failure in evaluating and providing sexual health counseling services to clients. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare the effect of 2 interactive educational workshops with or without standardized patients (SPs) on midwifery students' clinical skills in providing sexual health counseling at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, in 2014 to 2015. RESEARCH METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, 62 midwifery students were selected through convenient sampling method and then randomly divided into 2 groups who received 1 of 2 interactive educational workshops, with or without SPs in 10-hour educational programs. The students' skills in providing sexual health counseling were evaluated before and 2 weeks after the education through an Objective Structured Clinical Examination composed of 5 stations using validated checklists. The data were then analyzed using the SPSS Software (Version 16) through descriptive statistics as well as independent t test, paired t test, Mann-Whitney U, χ, and Fisher exact tests. The level of significance was considered by P < 0.05. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the mean scores of students' clinical skills in providing sexual health counseling services in the group educated with or without SPs (22.4 ± 7.0 and 23.0 ± 9.4, P = 0.77). However, 2 weeks after the interventions, the mean scores were 75.8 ± 11.2 and 47.0 ± 8.9, respectively, meaning a significant difference between the study groups (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Although both teaching methods could promote clinical skills among the midwifery students, the effect of interactive workshop with SPs was much significantly stronger.

Changes in sexual desire and activity during pregnancy among women in Shahroud, Iran.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate women's perception of sexual activity during pregnancy in Shahroud, Iran. METHODS: Data were gathered during 4 semi-structured group interviews with 33 pregnant women attending 2 obstetric outpatient clinics of a teaching hospital in Shahroud. The interviewers taped the interviews, coded and categorized their content, and performed a qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Most women reported a decrease in sexual desire and frequency of intercourse during pregnancy (69.7% and 81.8%, respectively). Sexual desire, however, increased for 18.2% of the women. Some felt that accepting intercourse prevented spousal infidelity, but 65.2% worried that it might cause injury to the fetus. Only 24.2% received information on the advisability of sexual activity during pregnancy from their physicians or midwives, and the other 75.8% sensed that they should discuss the topic with a professional but were not comfortable starting the conversation. CONCLUSION: Along with excessive anxiety, insufficient information is the major reason why sexual intercourse is often considered dangerous, and sometimes avoided, during pregnancy in Iran. Healthcare professionals, especially midwives, should educate and counsel women, and reassure them that intercourse is safe in women with healthy pregnancies.