Puerperal women's social interactions related to their sexual health after childbirth

Abstract

Objective: To analyze puerperal women’s experiences of sexual health after childbirth from the perspective of symbolic interactionism. Method: Descriptive, qualitative study. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted by videoconference with women in the remote puerperium, captured by snowball technique and searched for “seeds” on Instagram®. Bardin’s content analysis and Symbolic Interactionism were used as references. Results: The puerperal women signify sexual health from a perspective of comprehensive healthcare. However, due to the duality between “being a woman” and “being a mother”, they recognize fear, bodily transformations and changes in focus from the love relationship to caring for the baby as factors that interfere with sexual health. And they choose to put themselves aside, prioritizing caring for others. They re-signify sexual health by recognizing the importance of taking care of themselves in biopsychosocial aspects and try to recover self-care for a healthy sexual experience. Conclusion: Despite the meanings attributed, women’s social interactions with the puerperium interfere negatively with sexual health. Professionals should be sensitized to the inclusion of actions that promote changes in the social action of these women towards self-care.