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Background and purpose: Nowadays delivery of unnecessary medical interventions has led to adverse outcomes in mother and infant. This study compared maternal outcomes in nulliparous women in labor, in two methods of physiological and traditional delivery. Materials and methods: This single blind clinical trial was performed in 370 nulliparous mothers in Talesh Shahid Nooraani Hospital. The subjects were randomly assigned into physiological and conventional delivery (group A and B) through RandList. The intervention for both group included aromatherapy, pelvic exercises with ball, back and stomach massage during contractions using Lavandula oil, and an accompanying person in active phase of labor. The data was collected through observation and interviewing the mothers using a checklist of five parts including: profile of subjects and assessment of first, second, third, and fourth stages of delivery and also ten days after delivery. T-test and chi-square were used in SPSS (ver13) to analyze the data. Results: The rates of cesarean section in groups A and B were 11.4% and 35.1%, respectively (P<0.05). The incidence rate of infection was significantly lower in group A (5.9%) compared with that of the group B (14.1%) (P<0.05). Conclusion: Attention to the physiological process of labor and avoiding unsuitable medical interventions could reduce maternal outcomes. Therefore, prenatal care educations could inform the mothers about normal delivery process.

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Background and purpose: Mothers are highly vulnerable during pregnancy and after childbirth. Some problems could even lead to mortality and morbidity after childbirth. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the effect of lifestyle educational package on prevention of postpartum’s health problems in nulliparous mothers.

Materials and methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 220 nulliparous women in postpartum ward. The subjects were allocated into two groups using block randomization method. Intervention group received face to face training, telephone counseling, booklets and informative text messages (both fathers and mothers), while the control group had no education or training. Any health problem on the day of discharge and two and six weeks after delivery were compared between the two groups using logistic regression test.

Results: By lowering the frequency of health problems during pregnancy, the chances of developing some complications including constipation, hemorrhoids, anal fissure, abdominal pain, headache, painful or infected suture, sleep problems during the second and sixth weeks postpartum as well as the chances of having cold and fever, backache, leg cramp, breast pain, nipple fissure, fatigue or weakness, sadness and discomfort and vaginal infection during the sixth weeks of postpartum decreased by more than 50% in educational group compared with the control group.

Conclusion: In this study, postpartum lifestyle intervention reduced the chance of developing many health problems. Therefore, more comprehensive interventions should be carried out by healthcare providers during pureperium period in postpartum ward and the health centers for mothers and fathers.

(Clinical Trials Registry Number: IRCT2013042110324N13)

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Background and purpose: Pregnancy has tremendous influence on sexual satisfaction and qualification of women's life, especially in third trimester of pregnancy. The aim of this research was to determine the level of sexual satisfaction and related factors in women during third trimester of pregnancy.

Materials and methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 110 nulliparous Iranian women with no history of illness and complications during pregnancy attending Tehran hospitals, 2013-2014. Data was collected by the adjusted version of Index of Sexual Satisfaction (ISS) and a demographic-obstetric questionnaire. Data was analyzed in SPSS V. 19 using ANOVA test, Pearson and spearman correlation.

Results: The mean ages of women and their husbands and the median duration of marriages were 25.89±4.38, 30.96±6.22 and 3.22±2.23 years, respectively. The rates of sexual dissatisfaction was 0.9%, while low, moderate and high levels of sexual satisfaction were observed in 2.7%, 45.5%, and 50.9%, respectively. The results showed significant associations between levels of sexual satisfaction in third trimester and some factors such as age of women and their spouses, educational level of women, family economic situation, employment status, a planned pregnancy, and sexual desire (P<0.05)

Conclusion: According to the relation between sexual satisfaction and level of education, a planned pregnancy, employment status, and economic status of the family, free and accessible training in sex education is recommended to increase the level of knowledge in women and enhance prenatal care.

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Background and purpose: One of the major risk factors for the health of mother and child is cesarean section (CS) without medical reasons. This study aimed at addressing the causes associated with selecting delivery method in nulliparous women.
Materials and methods: A descriptive comparative study was performed in which the research population included all nulliparous women attending a health center in Mazandaran province, Iran 2017. Census method was used and 272 women with normal vaginal delivery (NVD, n=132) and CS (n=140) were selected. Data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were confirmed by gynecologists and Cronbach's alpha 0.76, respectively. Data analysis was done in SPSS V24.
Results: Out of 140 CS delivery, 66 (46.5%) had no medical recommendations. The main causes were fear of vaginal pain and health and safety of the fetus. The chance of NVD improved by 1% increase in knowledge about the benefits of NVD (15%) and disadvantages of CS (12%) (P<0.001). Also, 1% improvement in socioeconomic status rose the chance of choosing CS 2.45 times (P=0.023).
Conclusion: According to current research, informing nulliparous women about the disadvantages of CS and the benefits of NVD is necessary. Therefore, educational interventions are recommended for women planning pregnancy.