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Total fertility rate relates to the number of children that a woman bears in the fertility period of her life. Fertility function is one of the most important health and population indicators. This indicator affects social, health, economic and cultural factors. This study is an ecological or correlative one. Factors affecting total fertility rate in Iran in the year 2000 are studied in this paper. The factors include coverage of women with focus on higher education, infant mortality rate (under 1 year), women’s occupation rate, urbanity ratio, mean age in the first marriage of women in the age group 15 to 49 years as per the last census in Iran in 2000 in 26 provinces. The direct and indirect effects of these factors on total fertility rate, with emphasis on path analysis have been determined. Data analysis shows that women's occupation rate is the most important factor in decreasing total fertility rate. Higher education of women is also an important element in this regard. Therefore increase in the number of women with university education not only decreases the total fertility but also increases the occupation of women.

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Background & Aim: Infertility leads to sexual dissatisfaction in women who believe that their inability to conceive have serious negative effects on their life, particularly their sexual relations. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of counseling on sexual satisfaction among infertile women referred to Tehran Fertility Center.

Methods & Materials: It is a controlled clinical trial. One hundred infertile women were recruited in the study using convenience sampling method. Then they were randomly allocated in case and control groups. Data were gathered in two phases: before the intervention and 3 month after the intervention. The intervention group participated in two-hour counseling sessions for about 2 weeks. Data were collected using a 2-sectioned questionnaire including demographic characteristics, and sexual satisfaction questions. Data were analyzed using χ^2, Mann Whitney U, and Willcoxon statistical tests.

Results: Results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between two groups in sexual satisfaction before the intervention (P=0.401). There was significant difference between two groups 3 months after the intervention (P=0.019). Also, there was significant difference between women&aposs sexual satisfaction in the counseling group before and 3 month after the intervention (P=0.002).

Conclusion: Sexual counseling improves sexual satisfaction of infertile women.

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  Background & Aim: Reproductive behavior of a society can be studied in different ways. One of these ways is to check the birth intervals. The aim of the present study was to assess the childbirth along with factors influencing childbirth behavioral patterns in Ahwaz .

  Methods & Materials: In this study , factors affecting birth intervals of women aged 15-49 were investigated . To achieve this goal, given the nature of the birth intervals, the accelerated failure time model was applied. To estimate the parameters of this model, the R statistical software was used . 

  Results: Results indicated that women's educational level , husbands' ethnicity , place of residence , use of contraceptives , age at marriage and pregnancy status were factors significantly influencing first birth interval. Furthermore, women's ethnicity, contraceptive use, number of abortions or stillbirths, pregnancy status , duration of breast feeding and type of childbirth were the most important variables affecting the second birth interval. Also, husband's ethnicity, contraceptive use and duration of breast feeding had significant effects on the third birth interval in this study .

  Conclusion: Comparing the results of this study with those of previous studies shows a recent decline in pregnancy acceleration and an increase in average birth interval. In other words, changes in socio-economic and cultural statuses have caused longer birth intervals and fertility decreases .

  

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Background & Aim: Infertile women experience greater stress in their life and have lower quality of life compared to fertile women. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of mindfulness-based cognitive psychotherapy (MBCT) on quality of life in infertile women.
Methods & Materials: In a randomized clinical trial (IRCT2017021132321N2) with the Solomon four-group design, 60 infertile women referred to Fatemeh Zahra Infertility Research Center in Babol in 2015, were randomly assigned into four groups (15 in the group of experiment with pretest, 15 in the group of experiment without pretest, 15 in the group of control with pretest, 15 in the group of control without pretest). A total of thirty participants in the experimental group received MBCT in eight group sessions (120 minutes, once a week). The control group received no intervention. Thirty participants at the beginning and sixty participants at the end of study completed the Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-26). Data were analyzed by the SPSS software version 20 using univariate ANCOVA.
Results: The mindfulness-based cognitive psychotherapy improved the quality of life in both experimental groups. The mean scores for all the four domains of quality of life including, physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment significantly increased in both experimental groups compared to control groups (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The use of MBCT as a reliable method for promoting the quality of life of infertile women is recommended in infertility clinics.
 

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Background & Aim: Couples face many problems in pregnancies following In vitro fertilization (IVF) compared to normal pregnancies. The majority of studies have focused on women, and men have received less attention. So, this study aimed to explore the perceptions of men awaiting the first child following IVF.
Methods & Materials: This qualitative study was carried out in Shahid Motahari hospital in Urmia during 2017-2018. Data were collected using 19 individual in-depth semi-structured interviews. Participants were selected among men whose wives got pregnant by IVF, through purposeful sampling, until data saturation was reached. Data were analyzed through conventional content analysis approach using the MAXQDA software version 10.
Results: Four categories of "hope and fear of treatment outcome", "fear of social stigma", "financial concern", and "need for participation and training" were emerged from data analysis.
Conclusion: Men whose wives got pregnant through IVF have expectations and needs that must be addressed. On the one hand, the men are concerned about the social stigma of infertility and donation, the outcome of treatment, and the economic problems of treatment, and on the other hand they expect to be involved in the process of treatment and prenatal care.
 

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Background & Aim: In recent years, significant changes have occurred in the dynamics of childbearing within familial context. Notably, Iranian families have witnessed a noticeable decline in the desire for childbearing and having additional children. The aim of this study was to explore the determinants of childbearing decision-making among women and men of reproductive age.
Methods & Materials: This study adopts a qualitative research design using the conventional content analysis approach in 2023. The participants comprised 19 married women and men of reproductive age living in Zanjan, who were purposively selected to ensure maximum variation. After obtaining informed consent, the participants were invited to participate in individual, semi-structured interviews. Data collection continued until data saturation was reached, with concurrent analysis conducted throughout the process. The textual data were managed using MAXQDA software, version 2020.
Results: Throughout the inductive data analysis process, seven main categories emerged as determinants of decision-making about childbearing. These categories included social role modeling, reflection within family structure, social and economic requirements, contemporary concerns in parenting, avoidance of responsibility and comfort-seeking, unpleasant past experiences and age-related challenges. Among these categories, social and economic requirements emerged as the most prevalent concept across all interviews, with a total of 505 open codes associated with this category.
Conclusion: The normalization of reduced childbearing rates within the society, accompanied by shifting values and attitudes towards the significance of children, as well as economic and social problems have contributed to an increasing preference for smaller families. Furthermore, the desire for fewer children can be viewed as a response to the individualistic tendencies of women and men, as well as a means of avoiding parenting concerns.

 

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Background & Aim: Considering that a decline in sexual satisfaction after assisted reproductive treatment failure can cause a decrease in the overall quality and satisfaction of life, the present study was conducted to compare the effect of sexual counseling based on EX-PLISSIT and BETTER models on the sexual satisfaction of infertile women following the failure of assisted reproductive technologies.
Methods & Materials: This randomized clinical trial, conducted in 2022, involved 66 infertile women who had experienced unsuccessful assisted reproductive treatments and were referred to the Milad Infertility Center of Imam Reza (AS) Hospital in Mashhad, Iran. The participants were divided into two intervention groups – EX-PLISSIT and BETTER – and received individual sexual counseling across four weekly sessions, comprising two face-to-face and two virtual sessions. Data were collected using the Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women (SSSW) and subsequently analyzed using SPSS software version 25, through chi-square, independent t-tests, Mann-Whitney, and Wilcoxon tests.
Results: After the intervention, there were no statistically significant differences in the total scores of sexual satisfaction and its components between the two groups (P>0.05), with the exception of relational anxiety (P=0.021). Intra-group comparisons revealed a significant increase in the total scores of sexual satisfaction and its components within each group after the intervention, as compared to before the intervention (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Sexual counseling utilizing the EX-PLISSIT and BETTER models was found to be an effective, affordable, and side-effect-free method in enhancing sexual satisfaction among infertile women after the failure of assisted reproductive methods, particularly by addressing relational anxiety.
Clinical trial registry: IRCT20210211050324N1