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. 2022 Apr 25:9:865872.
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.865872. eCollection 2022.

Return of Sexual Activity Within Six Weeks of Childbirth Among Married Women Attending Postpartum Clinic of a Teaching Hospital in Ethiopia

Dejene Edosa Dirirsa  1 , Mukemil Awol Salo  1 , Tariku Regea Eticha  1 , Tinsae Abeya Geleta  2 , Berhanu Senbeta Deriba  2
Affiliations

Return of Sexual Activity Within Six Weeks of Childbirth Among Married Women Attending Postpartum Clinic of a Teaching Hospital in Ethiopia

Dejene Edosa Dirirsa et al. Front Med (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Introduction: Postpartum sexual health gets very little attention compared to pregnancy and childbirth, even though most maternal deaths and disabilities occur during this time. Therefore, the study aimed to assess return of sexual activity within 6 weeks of childbirth among married women attending postpartum clinic of a teaching hospital in Ethiopia, 2021.

Methods: The hospital-based cross-sectional study design was implemented from September to October 2021. Eligible postpartum women were sampled by systematic random sampling technique. The data was entered into EPI-info and exported to SPSS version 24 for further analysis. All variables with a p-value < 0.05 in multivariable analyses were taken as associated factors with the return to sexual activity before 6 weeks of childbirth.

Results: A total of 421 postpartum women participated in the study. The prevalence of women who return to sexual activity 6 weeks after childbirth was 31.6%. The study revealed that monogamy (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 4.4, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) (2.1, 9.4)), parity (AOR= 0.11, 95% CI (0.02-0.81)) and (AOR = 0.1, 95% CI (0.015-0.72)), postnatal care (AOR= 1.8, 95% CI (1.01-3)) and infants feeding status (AOR=2.3, 95% CI (1.3-4)) were significantly associated with return of sexual activity before 6 weeks of childbirth.

Conclusion: The findings of this study suggested that, nearly one-third of postpartum women engaged to sexual activity within 6 weeks of childbirth. Return of sexual activity within 6 weeks of childbirth associated with monogamy type of marriage, parity, postnatal care, and child feeding status. Strengthening postpartum counseling regarding the appropriate time to resume sexual activity is crucial. Regular postpartum visits following deliveries should also be encouraged by health care providers.

Keywords: Ethiopia; Ethiopia 2022; early sexual activity; postpartum sexual activity; return to sex; sexual activity; sexual resumption; six weeks of childbirth.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Flow chart of materials and methods.
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