Investigating postpartum quality of life in Swiss and Iranian women
Key takeaways
“Our joint research project was a complete success. We published results of the Swiss part of the study in the Journal of the Swiss Federation of Midwives, and two articles were submitted to international peer-reviewed journals”.
“Our joint research project was a complete success. We published results of the Swiss part of the study in the Journal of the Swiss Federation of Midwives, and two articles were submitted to international peer-reviewed journals”.
None of us knew what adventures awaited us when Dr. Azam Rahmani from Tehran University of Medical Science (TUMS), a researcher in sexual health, requested Dr. Susanne Grylka from Zurich University of Applied Science (ZHAW), a midwifery researcher, for a joint Seed Money Grant application. We decided to combine our experiences in sexual health, postnatal quality of life and scale development to design a study to investigate postpartum sexual quality of life in the two cultures. The topic seemed relevant because sexual problems after childbirth are frequent, but are insufficiently researched.
We interviewed 23 Iranian and 13 Swiss mothers three months after childbirth about factors related to their sexual quality of life and found many similarities such as pain and lack of interest, but also differences in sexual behaviours which were mostly related to cultural differences. We also developed the Persian version of the ‘Postpartum Sexual Quality of Life Scale’ and did a preliminary validation with 282 Iranian women.
A special event that was made possible due to the Seed Money Grant was Azam Rahmani’s visit to Switzerland. Exchanges with those responsible for the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes at ZHAW, as well as the research team, were enabled. Additionally, Azam Rahmani presented her research to an interested audience at the School of Health Professions. She also participated at an informal exchange with midwifery lecturers about midwifery, motherhood and women’s life in Iran and in Switzerland. We were all very impressed by this very open-minded discussion. During her stay in Switzerland, Azam Rahmani lived with her family at Susanne Grylka’s home. The private exchange was as great a broadening of horizons as the professional one!
Our joint research project was a complete success. We published results of the Swiss part of the study in the Journal of the Swiss Federation of Midwives, and two articles (written in English) were submitted to international peer-reviewed journals. We also applied for a follow-up project in the SPIRIT program of the Swiss National Science Foundation. The pre-proposal was successful, and we are currently preparing the full version. Sometimes a small startup aid can result in an unexpected, long term and fruitful collaboration!
