Jila Ganji - Assistant Professor, Department of Reproductive Health and Midwifery, Sexual and Reproductive Health Research Center, Mazandaran University Of Medical Science, Sari, Iran
Mitra Kolivand - Midwifery department, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, kermanshah, Iran
Sedigheh Hasani Moghadam - Master Student in midwifery counselling, Student Research Committee, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

Background: Women have different experiences after childbirth. Emotional and social changes may change their sexual and communicative needs. This study aimed to determine and discover women s sexual function experiences after childbirth.Methods: The present study was done in a mixed paradigm with a sequential explanatory approach. In the first phase, a descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the women’s sexual function after childbirth. In the second phase, using the qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews, the sexual function after childbirth was explained. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive methods, and in the qualitative stage, the conventional content analysis method was used.Results: In the quantitative phase of the study, more than half of the women (56.7%) reported some degree of sexual dysfunction at 3–6 months after childbirth. The qualitative findings revealed that women s experiences were affected by individual, family, social, and cultural factors. Individual factors included physical and psychological domains; family factors included husband and interpersonal communication; social factors comprised of the socioeconomic situation and sexual management in the postpartum period; the cultural factor was the adherence to the cultural norms.Conclusions: The present study showed that a mixed method explanatory sequential study could be used for better understanding of women s experience of sexual function after childbirth. The results of this study can be used in health research, education, policy-making, and planning related to women’s sexual health.

Postpartum period, Sexual function, Mixed method.Financial support: This research has been funded by the Student Research Committee of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences