(131) EFFECTIVENESS OF AN INTERACTIVE PATIENT LEARNING MODULE: INTIMACY IN PREGNANCY
Authors: Shah M , Suarez R , Lynn M , Tulke M , Adams W 
Published: June 2024

Introduction

Two-thirds of women experience negative sexual symptoms during their pregnancy. Women suffer with dyspareunia, arousal issues, decreased libido, and anorgasmia frequently throughout pregnancy, with a significant worsening of symptoms during the third trimester. Also, many women restrict their sexual activity due to fear and misconceptions of inducing preterm labor or harming the fetus and social parameters of sexual conduct during pregnancy. Due to the lack of readily available medical education regarding sexual function in pregnancy, many women of various religious backgrounds may feel lack of trusting asking family members or medical professionals regarding sexual wellness.

Objective

Patient education given during pregnancy will increase patient knowledge of intimacy during pregnancy as well as improve sexual satisfaction and relationship quality and mental health in pregnancy. Moreover, this module will address gaps in common misconceptions by introducing supportive literature findings regarding benefits of intercourse during pregnancy dispensing the social stigma.

Methods

This prospective study is a single group before and after pilot study. This study recruited 25 patients beyond 12 weeks’ gestation. We approached 34 of patients and 25 agreed to participate in review an educational module titled “Sexual Intimacy and Pregnancy” build from ACOG guidelines. This module was created at an 8th grade reading level. Patients completed a presurvey, used the module on an electronic device and then completed a post-module assessment.

Results

68% of women currently experience sexual dysfunction as either one of more of the following: pain with sex, decreased libido, anorgasmia, or vaginal dryness. Compared to their pre-module response, more women correctly answered the items “What percentage of pregnant women experience sexual dysfunction?” (28.0% versus 76.0%; p = .001) and “Having sex will cause labor” (28.0% versus 4.0%; p = .03). Additionally, women were more comfortable asking their doctor about sex while pregnant following the module (OR = 2.26, 95% CI: 1.06 – 4.83; p = .04). Through the recruitment process, we noticed that patients more likely to participate based on age, level of education received and most significant gravidity. The key for this recruitment was to create an environment in the exam room where both parents were able to see and engage with the module. During the module, partners spoke about current sexual dysfunction initially followed by confirmation by the pregnant patient. Prior to viewing this module, most participants predicted a much smaller percentage of women would be afflicted by sexual dysfunction in pregnancy which illustrating the broad deficits in sexual health education.

Conclusions

All participants would recommend this educational module to fellow pregnant women and all participants rated the completion and content of this module at easy or very easy to follow. This education module demonstrates baseline improvement in knowledge of sexual function in pregnancy and increases comfort level of discussing sexual function during prenatal care. Future direction of this study aims to target education in various socioeconomic cultures where intimacy education is not discussed in the clinical setting.

Disclosure

No.