This study aimed to investigate whether infertility and its treatment affect couple sexuality. A systematic literature review was performed, focusing on female and male sexual dysfunctions due to infertility. The method was descriptive, using a meta-synthesis of scientific research published between 2012 and 2017 in the English language. The search for suitable studies was carried out with the research databases Medline, CINAHL, PubMed and ScienceDirect using the following keywords: infertility, sexual dysfunctions, couple. It can be concluded that infertility negatively affects the sexuality of an infertile couple, which is further proven by a high percentage of sexual dysfunctions (43%-90% among women and 48%-58% among men). Couples report less satisfaction with sexuality. Since lower satisfaction and dysfunctions are closely connected with infertility and its treatment, couples might benefit from sexual therapy and support during the process of infertility treatment. Further research should focus on the evaluation of different psychological interventions that would address sexuality in couples when diagnosed and treated for infertility.

Further investigation is required and a questionnaire survey involving a larger sample of midwives and community nurses is planned on the basis of the findings of this study.

IntroductionThe aim of the study was to explore two aspects of neonatal prophylaxis: the application of the vitamin K injection to the newborns and the prophylaxis against chlamydial and gonococcal eye infections, comparing Slovenian and Croatian practices.MethodsA causal non-experimental method of quantitative empirical approach was used. The data was collected by means of predesigned questionnaires. The questionnaires were sent to 14 Slovenian and 32 Croatian birth hospitals. The data was analysed with descriptive statistics and the Kullback test.ResultsVitamin K is applied to all newborns in 9 (out of 14) Slovene and 22 (out of 32) Croatian birth hospitals that returned the questionnaire. The prophylaxis against chlamydial gonococcal eye infections is applied to all newborns in 9 Slovene and 16 Croatian birth hospitals that offered answers to the questionnaire. The majority of Slovene and Croatian birth hospitals perform these procedures in the first hour after birth. The majority of Slovene birth hospitals still apply vitamin K in the gluteal muscle, whereas the majority of Croatian birth hospitals usually use the thigh as an injection site. In Slovenia, 1 % Targesin is used for the prophylaxis against chlamydial and gonococcal eye infections, whereas in Croatia the prevailing medicine is Erythromycin.ConclusionsThe possibility of oral vitamin K application should be offered to parents, and pain management in practice should be discussed. The form of written informed consent could be offered to parents. Health professionals should provide intimacy and exclude routine procedures in the first couple of hours after birth. However, more research is needed as delayed administration might be related to lower efficacy and, as a consequence of that, the safety of newborns is questionable.

To have a sexual experience, one does not need to know ‘how sex works’. Besides, the more you think about it at that moment, the greater the risk that it might not ‘work’. However, such knowledge is relevant and essential in the daily practice of the heathcare professional (HCP).This chapter describes the stages of sexual response, from desire, via arousal, to orgasm, and then resolution (and the range of variety). It will indicate some of the changes occurring during pregnancy.The chapter then explores the types and reasons for sexual problems or dysfunctions. The chapter highlights the common problems with sexual desire, sexual arousal and sexual pain problems. Such problems are highly relevant to midwifery practice. They can negatively impact the couple’s or the woman’s general wellbeing and even be a reason for impaired fertility. The ‘3-conditions framework for satisfying sexual experiences’, a simple diagnostic tool to help midwives and other non-sexologist-HCPs structure their clinical reasoning about their client’s sexual problems, is described and applied to sexual problems commonly encountered by midwives. Using this framework to better understand how things can go wrong can help HCPs provide care for women and couples struggling with sexual problems.This chapter is part of ‘Midwifery and Sexuality’, a Springer Nature open-access textbook for midwives and related healthcare professionals.

The very first hour in a baby's life can have a significant-lifelong-impact on the health of the baby and on the bond between the mother and a baby. Keeping mothers and babies together is a safe and healthy birth practice. Childbirth and the first hour after birth is a time of many changes for both mother and child. Changes are also physiological, as well as psychological. Creating an optimal environment for birth boosts the right hormones for natural birth, which reduces the need for interventions that could cause early mother-baby separation. One of the major challenges in the birth hospital is how best to combine a midwifery care and those medical procedures that are not necessary, to right form the birth as a family intimate and privacy event, if, of course, the child and maternal health would allow this. The first hour after birth is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion for both the baby and the parents, a unique experience, and once lost, it can never be relived.