How does pregnancy affect sexual function?
During pregnancy many women avoid sexual activity or experiences difficulties in their sex lives.
Impressive data from 306 pregnant women in Turkey, with an average age of 26 years and without complications were published.
88.9% had decreased sexual desire, 86.9% had arousal difficulties, 42.8% had reduced lubrication during intercourse and 69.6% had difficulty achieving orgasm. Approximately half of the women reported that they are not satisfied sexually.
What are the factors that play a decisive role?
Women older than 35 years were more likely to report sexual problems than younger pregnant women. Also, women with low educational and economic levels had significantly increased sexual problems compared with those who had the highest forms of photic and economic level.
This study also showed that the duration of marriage was significantly related to sexual functioning, since those who were married more than 10 years had more sexual problems. The same was true for those with more previous pregnancies.
Furthermore, most problems were reported by women that were pregnant for more than 28 weeks, while the health problems that were associated with more sexual difficulties were difficulty breathing, cramps, foot pain and constipation.
This study shows that the sexual life of the woman during pregnancy can be affected quite negatively. The sexual life is influenced not only by the physical problems that often accompany this period of life, but also the relationship and the economic situation.
If we consider data from other studies showing that typically four years need to pass from the birth of the first child to resume sexual activity in previous levels, then we understand that it is particularly important to try to prepare the couple with flexibility and realistic expectations of sexual intimacy and pleasure.
Guleroglu T, Beşer N (2012) Evaluation of Sexual Function of The Pregnant Women. 15th Congress of European Society of Sexual Medicine, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
