Table 2.
Study Results: Pregnant Couples' Postnatal Sexual Concerns
| Group 1 | |
| Men | |
| • having time for each partner and the couple | |
| • communication | |
| • making love is easier after 2 months | |
| • each couple is different | |
| • difficult birth will influence the situation | |
| • changes that will occur once baby is there | |
| Women | |
| • fear of pain in the vagina | |
| • to be touched with tenderness | |
| • the male partner who does not want to make love, who could be traumatized from the birth, his fear of hurting the woman | |
| • adaptation: to have time, to give oneself time, to let go, to be able to separate oneself from the baby | |
| • contraception | |
| • reactivating the passion, fun and games, sex, love, how to do these things, romance | |
| • communication | |
| Group 2 | |
| Men | |
| • sexual desire and the woman's libido | |
| • avoiding another pregnancy (contraception) | |
| • sexual intercourse the first time | |
| • distance in the couple after the baby's arrival | |
| Women | |
| • to be desired | |
| • vaginal pain during sexual intercourse | |
| • fatigue and its impact on sexual desire | |
| • greatest worry: that all of her attention is focused on the baby, thus potentially excluding the male partner | |
| • his perception of her and her body after the birth | |
| Group 3 | |
| Men | |
| • the timing: when to resume sexual intercourse | |
| • postpartum depression | |
| • too much attention on the baby and none for him | |
| • will the woman feel beautiful and desirable? | |
| • intimacy and baby: balancing these two aspects | |
| • lovemaking: that it becomes too planned and not spontaneous enough | |
| Women | |
| • time to adapt to everything: having time for baby, one's body to recover from the birth, time for mothering, not to feel rushed to have sex | |
| • communication | |
| • fear of forgetting oneself | |
| • fear of pain during sexual intercourse | |
| Group 4 | |
| Men | |
| • pain | |
| • loss of sensation | |
| • how to please partner | |
| • her libido | |
| • fatigue | |
| • finding time to make love | |
| • depression | |
| • breastfeeding | |
| • the child's presence/handicapped child | |
| • birth complications | |
| Women | |
| • fear of pain | |
| • change in partner's perception regarding her body | |
| • lowered sexual desire | |
| • contraception | |
| Group 5 | |
| Men | |
| • timing | |
| • pain upon intercourse | |
| • reluctance/hesitation | |
| • libido (man and woman) | |
| • different? sensual? same? | |
| Women | |
| • time required for healing | |
| • does the male partner see her as the mother of his child or as his woman? | |
| • to find the time to make love | |
| • the women do not want the men to change their behavior as lovers | |
| • life will change, but not too much |