Preface

Chapter 9 **Breaking Down Taboos Concerning Sexuality among**

Doroteja Rebec, Igor Karnjuš, Sabina Ličen and Katarina Babnik

**the Elderly 189**

**VI** Contents

Sexual health is an element of general health. It is therefore very important that health pro‐ fessionals are aware of the impact of individual's sexuality on clients' well-being. Together with aspects of spirituality and emotional well-being, sexuality sets the ground for the quali‐ ty of life.

I claim that awareness of sexual component of human being is crucial for midwives, who deal with pregnancy, birth, puerperium, reproductive and gynaecological issues etc. These are situations that are all closely connected with intimacy, privacy and sexuality. The logical derivation is that midwives should be capable of handling the conversation and counselling on different sexual topics, setting aside their own opinions and prejudices regarding the sex‐ uality.

The idea for the book Sexuality and midwifery arose from this point of view. There are a lot of professional circumstances we wanted to cover in the publication, but the initiative wish had to be narrowed and reduced.

All authors are academic teachers with practical experience in taking care for women. Their experiences, knowledge and expertizes provide a notable insight in the issue, with the com‐ mon wish to improve the management of sexual issues within the midwifery/heath care.

The chapter written by Anita Jug Došler, PhD reviews how the consciousness regarding the sexuality in individuals develops. Andreja Kvas, PhD describes basic principles of success‐ ful health education regarding sexual matters. Metka Skubic, MSc and Tita Stanek Zidarič, MSc write about how midwives have to be empathic and aware of the women's intimate space, which they often intrude when providing a midwifery care. While Teja Škodič Zak‐ šek, MSc describes the sexuality during normal pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal peri‐ od, Tanja Repič, PhD deals with these periods of life through the ocular of the woman who was abused in the past. Zalka Drglin, PhD using feminist approach, discusses female sexual‐ ity in relation to modern medicine. Barbara Domajnko, Phd describes a research regarding midwifery students' views on homosexuality and a team of researchers - Doroteja Rebec, MSc, Igor Karnjuš, MSc, Sabina Ličen, MSc and Katarina Babnik, PhD presents the data of the study regarding the sexuality among elderly.

All above issues are a part of the curriculum of the subject Sexology in midwifery that I lec‐ ture to the undergraduate midwifery students, attending BSc midwifery programme at the Faculty of health sciences Ljubljana. The experiment started with the programme accredited in 2004. The evaluation of the subject after providing these contents to the midwifery stu‐ dents for 10 years shows that midwifery students do think that discussion about sexual is‐

sues have to be a part of the formal education. They estimated the subject as helpful and important.

I hope that with drawling their attention to these topics, I contribute to the future genera‐ tions of empathic and sympathetic midwives, who will practice woman-centred care, focus‐ ing on all aspects of her well-being.

> **Ana Polona Mivšek** Head of the Department of Obstetrics / Department of Midwifery University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
