Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Aug 19:12:72.
doi: 10.1186/s12978-015-0065-0.

Demographic and obstetric factors affecting women's sexual functioning during pregnancy

Kobra Abouzari-Gazafroodi  1 , Fatemeh Najafi  2 , Ehsan Kazemnejad  3 , Parvin Rahnama  4 , Ali Montazeri  5   6
Affiliations

Demographic and obstetric factors affecting women's sexual functioning during pregnancy

Kobra Abouzari-Gazafroodi et al. Reprod Health. .

Abstract

Background: Sexual desire and frequency of sexual relationships during pregnancy remains challenging. This study aimed to assess factors that affect women's sexual functioning during pregnancy.

Methods: This was a cross sectional study carried out at prenatal care clinics of public health services in Iran. An author-designed structured questionnaire including items on socio-demographic characteristics, obstetric history, the current pregnancy, and women's sexual functioning during pregnancy was used to collect data. The generalized linear model was performed in order to find out factors that affect women's sexual functioning during pregnancy.

Results: In all, 518 pregnant women participated in the study. The mean age of participants was 26.4 years (SD = 4.7). Overall 309 women (59.7%) scored less than mean on sexual functioning. The results obtained from generalized linear model demonstrated that that lower education, unwanted pregnancy, earlier stage of pregnancy, older age, and longer duration of marriage were the most important factors contributing to disturbed sexual functioning among couples.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that sexual function during pregnancy might be disturbed due to several factors. Indeed issues on sexual relationship should be included as part of prenatal care and reproductive health programs for every woman.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Bartellas E, Crane JM, Daley M, Bennett KA, Hutchens D. Sexuality and sexual activity in pregnancy. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 2000;107:964–968. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2000.tb10397.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Trutnovsky G, Haas J, Lang U, Petru E. Womens perception of sexuality during pregnancy and after birth. Aust NZ J Obstet Gynaecol. 2006;46:282–287. doi: 10.1111/j.1479-828X.2006.00592.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Orji EO, Ogunlola IO, Fasubaa OB. Sexuality among pregnant women in South West Nigeria. J Obstet gynaecol. 2002;22:166–168. doi: 10.1080/01443610120113319. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Pauls RN, Occhino JA, Dryfhout VL. Effects of pregnancy on female sexual function and body image: a prospective study. J Sex Med. 2008;5:1915–1922. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.00884.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Malarewicz A, Szymkiewicz J, Rogala J. Sexuality of pregnant women. Ginekol Pol. 2006;77:733–739. - PubMed

Publication types