Viola Polomeno

Sex and Pregnancy: A Perinatal Educator's Guide.

This article is a continuation in the author’s growing series of articles on intimacy and sexuality in the transition to parenthood and its relationship with perinatal education. So many couples in the author’s perinatal education practice feel that health professionals are uncomfortable discussing sex and pregnancy. Indeed, the couples have so many questions and concerns regarding this subject; they are seeking answers so that they may better understand and cope with the changes in this aspect of their relationship. Perinatal education group encounters or special sessions are the ideal setting to discuss intimacy and sexuality during pregnancy. The objectives of this article are to provide the perinatal educator with content for the group sessions and tools for teaching strategies and activities.

The polomeno family intervention framework for perinatal education: preparing couples for the transition to parenthood.

Couples face many challenges as they transform themselves from dyad to triad. For some couples, these challenges are life-enriching experiences, while for others, chaos ensues, potentially leading to separation and divorce. The transition to first-time parenthood, even for well-functioning couples, is fraught with potential disorganization. At the same time, it provides opportunities for simultaneous self-growth and conjugal enrichment. What role can perinatal educators play in preparing couples to deal with the changes associated with this transition? To answer this vital question, the author presents her conceptualization of perinatal education as a primary family intervention framework during the perinatal period.

Sex and babies: pregnant couples' postnatal sexual concerns.

What are pregnant couples’ concerns regarding their sexual relationship after their baby’s arrival? A study in regard to this question was conducted with five prenatal groups (n = 82). Its results are presented in this article. The sexual concerns are categorized as being about physical matters, psychological issues, adaptation issues, and anticipatory planning. A review of the literature then develops the theoretical interpretation of each of the sexual concerns and offers suggestions for childbirth educators to address some of these issues.

CANADIAN CROSS‐CULTURAL COMPARISON OF THE HIGH‐RISK PREGNANCY STRESS SCALE

The purpose of this article is to present the French and English versions of the High-Risk Pregnancy Stress Scale (HRPSS) and the reliability and validity analyses. This instrument contains 16 items representing psychological and environmental stressors of the at-risk pregnancy situation with or without hospitalization. The HRPSS was developed specifically to measure the degree of stress as experienced by women with high-risk pregnancy. The results of the principal component analyses with Varimax rotation (N = 105) reveal that the HRPSS has two components. The first component represents physical restriction, while the second represents concerns related to pregnancy. These two components have been identified as forming the basis of the concept of antenatal-related stress. The HRPSS demonstrates internal consistency, equivalence and stability reliability. The psychometric analyses reveal that both the French and English versions have similar qualities.

Translation and Validation of a French Version of Brown’s Support Behaviors Inventory in Perinatal Health

This article describes the process used for translation, testing for reliability and validity, and establishing factor structure of a French version of Brown’s Support Behaviors Inventory (SBI-Fr). The objective was to provide an adequate self-report measure of satisfaction with social support during the perinatal period for use with a Francophone population in Québec, Canada. When compared with the English version, the French version had similar qualities regarding reliability and validity, but principal component analysis (N = 271) revealed that the SBI-Fr measures two distinct subscales, perceived satisfaction with partner’s and others’support. The availability of the SBI-Fr will facilitate the inclusion of Francophone respondents in studies of satisfaction with social support during the perinatal period and permit cross-cultural comparison between Francophone and other populations in not only Canada but also other Frenchspeaking countries.

Evaluation of a pilot project: preparenthood and pregrandparenthood education.

A pilot project in expanding perinatal education is presented in this article. The author has experimented with a series of group sessions on the introduction to the transition to parenthood for couples who are either engaged or recently married. Such couples, if introduced to the changes associated with the transition to parenthood at a point of development in the commitment process, may increase their chances of weathering the turbulence that is often a part of the transition. The potential grandparents are part of the process since they are usually an important source of social support. Preparenthood and pregrandparenthood education is a useful extension of perinatal education for the beginning of this century.

Sex and Breastfeeding: An Educational Perspective

Expectant and new parents have many concerns regarding the relationship between sexuality and breastfeeding. How is a new mother’s libido affected by breastfeeding? Why do some women get sexually excited when breastfeeding? Is this frequent or normal? How does the partner feel about breasts full of milk? Why do breasts leak during a woman’s orgasm? Perinatal educators are in a privileged position to reassure these parents about this relationship while promoting the breastfeeding bond between the mother and child and the intimacy bond between the parents.

Perinatal Education and Grandparenting: Creating an Interdependent Family Environment. Part I: Documenting the Need

This is the first of two articles on the development, implementation, and evaluation of a grandparenting perinatal education program. In part one, a review of the literature is presented, along with the planned content and objectives for the program.

The Family Assessment Measure III Dyadic Relationships Scale: Comparative Psychometric Evaluation of the French and English Versions

The purposes of this article are to present the reliability and validity analyses of the French version of the Family Assessment Measure III Dyadic Relationships Scale (DRS) and to compare its psychometric properties with the English version. The assessment offamilyfunctioning remains an immense challenge for both family researchers and clinicians. The availability of instruments in several languages is of the utmost importance to advance cross-cultural research. The DRS was used to measure family functioning from the perspective of the pregnant woman. Analyses from principal component analysis with varimax rotation (N = 271) reveal that the DRS contains two components with 21 items within each component instead of the proposed seven subscales. One component represents the positive side of the dyadic relationship; the other represents the negative. Though the DRS demonstrates both internal consistency and stability reliability, the involvement subscale has lower stability results. Issues relating to the use of the raw score or the standard score in the classification of normalfamily processes are addressed. Both the French and English versions of the DRS have similar reliability and validity qualities. We believe that the DRS can be used for research purposes to measure family functioning; however, the internal theoretical structure of the instrument needs to be reconceptualized.

Perinatal Education and Grandparents: Creating an Interdependent Family Environment Part II: The Pilot Study

This second of two articles presents a study of the grandparenting perinatal education program. The following aspects are featured: recruitment, the setting, the program’s content, supporting material and teaching aids, and the program’s organization. An evaluation of the program was conducted and is presented in the article.