[Women's postpartum sexuality and delivery types]

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the impact of delivery on the sexuality of primiparous women in China, and the association with delivery type.

Methods: We inquired 460 of primiparous women delivering of a live birth at the first affiliated hospital of Chongqing medical university from November 1, 2000 to July 31, 2001. It was a cross-sectional study using obstetric records and postal questionnaire survey by outpatients consultation six months after delivery.

Results: Ninety-four point seven percent had resumed sexual activity within six months of the birth. In the first three months after delivery, 70.6% of women experienced sexual problems, it declined to 34.2% at six months, but can not reaching the pre-pregnancy levels. There was no close relation between sexuality postpartum and delivery. (sexual satisfactory, desire, active rate, dyspareunia and pubococcygeal muscle intensity, P > 0.05).

Conclusions: Postpartum sexuality was not significantly associated with delivery types. Sexual problems were very common after childbirth. More consultation and direction of postpartum sexuality recurrence is needed.