The relationship between genital self-image of women in the early postpartum period and their views on genital aesthetics

Aim: This study is a descriptive and correlational study with the aim of examining the relationship between the genital self-image of women in the early postpartum period who gave birth in a training and research hospital in Istanbul and determining the factors affecting them and their views on genital aesthetics. Method: In this study conducted between 14.04.2023-01.10.2023, 201 women with known population were included in the scope of the research. The data obtained quantitatively in the study were analysed with SPSS 26.0 software. Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis H and Chi-Square tests were used to evaluate the data. Results: In the early postpartum period, a significant correlation was found between the socio-demographic (age, weight, marital status, education, age of the spouse and education of the spouse, etc.) and obstetric (parity, macrosic delivery, number of living children, etc.) characteristics of the women and the scores of the FGSIS (p<0.05). As the ages of the participants and their spouses increased, it was found that those who were married (91.5%) had lower FGSIS scores than those who were not legally married (8.5%), those with an education level of 9 years or more and their spouses with an education level of 8 years or less (p<0.05). Participants who gave birth with intervened vaginal delivery had lower scores on the FGSIS than those who gave birth with normal vaginal delivery, women with a weight of 91 and over had lower scores than those with a weight of 61-70 and those with a gravida and parity of 3 and over had lower scores than those with a gravida and parity of 2 times (p<0.05). When the satisfaction levels of the participants regarding their sexual life and marital harmony were examined, it was found that those who gave '0-5 points' according to their own evaluations had lower scores on the FGSIS than those who gave '6-10 points' (p<0.05). A significant correlation was found between women's satisfaction with their mode of delivery and genital appearance and women's views on sexual life and marital relationship harmony with their husbands/partners and FGSIS scores (p<0.05). When the sexual life satisfaction levels were examined, it was found that 92.2% of those who gave 0-5 points according to their own evaluations considered genital aesthetic operation and 64% of those who gave 6-10 points did not consider genital aesthetic operation. When the opinions of women were examined; it was found that 24.75% of the participants who considered genital aesthetic operations in the postpartum period due to concerns about genital aesthetic appearance, 24.75% Labioplasty, 11.88% Vaginoplasty, 7.92% Barbie aesthetics, 6.93% Genital discolouration, 3.96% Perineoplasty. Conclusion: In the early postpartum period, advanced age, overweight, low education level, age and education of the spouse, and high parity, macrosic delivery, intervention vaginal delivery, and the number of living children negatively affect women's FGSIS scores. Participants who had heard of the concept of genital aesthetics before and had a demand for it had a lower score on the FGSIS compared to the others.