Abstract
We carried out a study in an attempt to the sexual life, the level of sexual desire and satisfaction with sex, in 201 couples consisting of a pregnant wife and her husband. We found that understanding of the "reproductive" aspect of sexual was low, with less than half of the respondents recognizing this special aspect of sex. We also found that most couples thought of sexual life as a "joint" process. The items on which differences in gender were found were "pleasure," "confirmation of sex role," and "obligation and responsibility." There were few men or women who mentioned the latter two categories. The husband' s understanding of pleasure was not affected very much by his wife' s pregnancy. We assumed there was not much change. The difference in understanding between men and women was reflected at the behavioral level and at the level of satisfaction with sexual life. There were 104 (51.7%) pregnant wives and 61 (30.3%) husbands who indicated their sexual desire was satisfied just being near their partner and not engaging in sex. "I am fine as long as he/she is near me." There were 16 (8%) pregnant wives and 65 (32.3%) husbands whose level of sexual desire was "I want to have sex." The level of satisfaction with sexual life during pregnancy was significantly higher for wives. They were satisfied with their husbands' thoughtfulness and willingness to go along with their wishes. About 5% of the wives who were pregnant were not satisfied with the fact that the number of times they had sex decreased. Of the husbands, 34.3% felt some sort of dissatisfaction with their sex lives.
