| Title |
Body after baby: a pilot survey of genital body image and sexual esteem following vaginal birth
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
International Journal of Women's Health, April 2017
|
| DOI | 10.2147/ijwh.s123051 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Ruth Zielinski, Lisa Kane Low, Abigail R Smith, Janis M Miller |
| Abstract |
The aim of this study was to determine acceptability of the Vaginal Changes Sexual and Body Esteem (VSBE) scale for women post childbirth and explore the association between childbirth events and sexual/body esteem. This is a cross-sectional study within the Evaluating Maternal Recovery from Labor and Delivery study. This study was conducted in a community setting. The study was conducted in women post first vaginal birth with birth events that posed risk factors for levator ani muscle tears. Survey, magnetic resonance images of levator ani, and physical examination were the data collected 8 months postpartum. Birth variables were collected by hospital chart review. Descriptive analysis of VSBE response rates and distribution of responses was conducted. An exploratory analysis of the potential association of demographic, birth, clinical, and magnetic resonance image characteristics with VSBE scores was conducted. The outcome measure used in this study is VSBE scale. The majority of participants (97%) completed the scale, with responses to most questions skewed toward positive sexual/body esteem, with the exception of sexual enjoyment, where 38% indicated some interference due to genital changes. The scale showed high internal consistency (alpha =0.93). In the exploratory analysis of potential characteristics associated with VSBE, women with episiotomies had lower sexual/body esteem compared to those who did not (median VSBE scores 35 vs 42.5, P=0.01). Anal sphincter tear was not associated with sexual/body esteem (P=0.78). Additional study is indicated to further explore observed trends toward the association of severe levator ani tear, maternal age at childbirth, and forceps with VSBE scores. The VSBE is suitable for use to assess sexual/body esteem in women post childbirth. Most women in this sample did not indicate negative genital body image/sexual esteem. However, some indicated that the changes post birth negatively affected their sexual/body esteem, particularly those who had episiotomies. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 5 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 2 | 40% |
| United States | 2 | 40% |
| Unknown | 1 | 20% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 2 | 40% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 40% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 20% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 67 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 67 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 15 | 22% |
| Student > Bachelor | 6 | 9% |
| Other | 5 | 7% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 4 | 6% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 3 | 4% |
| Other | 13 | 19% |
| Unknown | 21 | 31% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing and Health Professions | 15 | 22% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 14 | 21% |
| Psychology | 4 | 6% |
| Mathematics | 1 | 1% |
| Computer Science | 1 | 1% |
| Other | 5 | 7% |
| Unknown | 27 | 40% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 81. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 20 July 2017.
All research outputs
#530,383
of 25,584,565 outputs
Outputs from International Journal of Women's Health
#37
of 850 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#10,983
of 324,452 outputs
Outputs of similar age from International Journal of Women's Health
#3
of 20 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,584,565 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 850 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 15.1. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 324,452 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 20 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 90% of its contemporaries.