Sexuality during pregnancy.
BACKGROUND
Sexuality is an important part of health and well-being. Sexual behavior modifies as pregnancy progresses, influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate changes in sexual perceptions and activities during pregnancy and to determine sexual dysfunctions in that period.


METHODS
Sexual perceptions (desire from the partner, feelings of attractiveness, and fear of sexual intercourse), sexual activities during pregnancy (sexual intercourse frequency, the most frequent sexual intercourse trimester, sexual activity during the birth week, type(s) of sexual intercourse, changes in sexual satisfaction and desire compared with the pre-pregnancy period, and changes in sexual intercourse frequency during each trimester compared with the pre-pregnancy period), and sexual dysfunctions.


METHODS
Puerperal women were asked to anonymously complete a self-administered and structured questionnaire at the day of discharge from hospital.


RESULTS
One hundred and eighty-eight women, aged between 17 years and 40 years with a mean age of 28.9 years, were analyzed. The first trimester was considered the most frequent period of sexual intercourse (44.7%), followed by the second trimester (35.6%). Fifty-five percent reported a decrease of sexual activity during the third trimester. Fear of sexual intercourse was referred by 23.4% of the women questioned. Sexual satisfaction was unchanged in 48.4% of the subjects and decreased in 27.7% (P < 0.0001); sexual desire is reported to be unchanged in 38.8% and decreased in 32.5% (P = 0.196) of the population. Vaginal, oral, anal sex, and masturbation were performed by 98.3%, 38.1%, 6.6%, and 20.4% of the women, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
We determined in our study that sexual satisfaction do not change in pregnancy compared with the pre-pregnancy patterns despite a decline of sexual activity during the third trimester. A discussion of expected changes in sexuality should be routinely done by the doctor in order to improve couples' perception of possible sexual modifications induced by pregnancy.
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, Santa Maria University Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal. jrpauleta@gmail.com
Joana Rocha
JR
Pauleta
Nuno Monteiro
NM
Pereira
Luís Mendes
LM
Graça
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D003075:Coitus / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007989:Libido; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D011264:Pregnancy Trimesters / Q000523:psychology; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D020018:Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult