Gebelerde cinsel ilişki esnasında beden algısının trimesterlere göre karşılaştırılması

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare body perception during sexual intercourse in pregnant women according to trimesters. MATERIAL and METHODS: This descriptive and comparative study was conducted in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Outpatient Clinic of a training and research hospital in southeastern Türkiye between April and October 2024 with 183 pregnant women selected by random sampling method. “Personal Information Form” and ‘(Body Exposure During Sexual Activities Questionnaire (BESAQ))’ were used as data collection tools. Data were analyzed with Mann Whitney-U, Kruskal Wallis and Spearman correlation tests. Dunn’s test was used for further analysis. RESULTS: The mean BESAQ scores of pregnant women were found to be 1st trimester (1.54±0.42), 2nd trimester (1.51±0.51) and 3rd trimester (1.46±0.58). In the study, no statistically significant difference was observed between the mean scores of pregnant women according to trimesters (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: In the study, although there was no significant difference in the way pregnant women perceived the body during sexual intercourse according to trimesters, it was found that the anxiety levels of pregnant women in each trimester due to focusing on body images during sexual intercourse were below the average. It was recommended that healthcare professionals should have in-depth knowledge about the changes in body perception of pregnant women during sexual intercourse in each trimester and provide evidence-based healthcare services. Keywords: pregnancy, body perception, sexual intercourse, sexuality, nursing