Determining the Effects of Women’s Fertility Awareness Levels on Obstetric History

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted using the Google Forms platform to determine the effects of women's fertility awareness on their obstetric histories.Methods: The sample of this cross-sectional study consisted of 365 women between the ages of 18 and 49 who visited three family health centers in eastern Turkey. The data has been collected via Google Form. Data were collected using the Personal Information Form and the Fertility Awareness Scale (FAS). Descriptive statistics (n, %, mean, standard deviation, min-max), Cronbach alpha, Pearson correlation, chi-square and independent sample t-test were used in statistical analysis.Results: 365 women participated in the study. The women with a mean age of 34.25±6.82 had a mean score of 38.74±6.45 in the Bodily Awareness dimension of FAS, a mean score of 32.14±5.28 in the Cognitive Awareness dimension of FAS, a mean total score of 70.89±10.50 in FAS, and they were determined to have a high level of fertility awareness (61.1%). The participants’ mean scores of Bodily Awareness were determined to decrease with their age of marriage and age of first childbirth (p<0.05). The mean FAS total and dimension scores of the women who were employed, those who had a high level of education, those who had a good economic status and those who used modern family planning methods and trust these methods were determined to be higher (p<0.05). The women who had sexually transmitted diseases and reproductive system infections in the past were determined to score higher, while the women who had problems during the conception process and pregnancy were determined to score lower (p<0.05). Among women surveyed, it was determined that miscarriage, abortion, stillbirth and having a dead child did not affect fertility awareness.Conclusion: In this study, among women surveyed, fertility awareness was observed to be affected by socio-demographic characteristics such as marriage age, first childbirth age, employment status, and economic status. It was determined that the women who used modern contraceptives and trusted these methods and the women who had sexually transmitted diseases and reproductive system infections in the past had high fertility awareness, whereas the women with low fertility awareness had health problems during the conception process and pregnancy.