title: [Impact of pregnancy on female sexual function].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the impact of pregnancy on female sexual function.
  
  
  METHODS
  An analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted on 181 non-pregnant and 177 pregnant women aged 18 to 45 years. The study included premenopausal, sexually active women with a steady partner and excluded those taking antidepressants or with a diagnosis of depression. Eleven of these women (6.2%) were in the first trimester, 50 (28.2%), in the second trimester and 116 (65.5%), in the third trimester of pregnancy. The evaluation consisted of an interview in which the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was applied. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 16.0. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney test was used to compare the mean FSFI values of pregnant and non-pregnant women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sexual dysfunction was 40.4% among pregnant women and 23.3% among non-pregnant women, with a significant difference between the scores of the studied groups (p=0.01). The difference in the mean global FSFI values between the groups was also significant (p<0.0001). There were significant differences between pregnant and non-pregnant women regarding desire (p<0.0001), excitation (p=0.003), lubrication (p=0.02), orgasm (p=0.005) and satisfaction (p=0.03). The same was not observed regarding pain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that pregnancy negatively influences female sexual function, particularly the desire and excitement domains, revealing the importance of addressing the issue by professionals dealing with pregnant women.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Sergipe – UFS – Aracaju SE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Daniela Siqueira
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Prado
authors.forename: Ryane Vieira
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Leyla Manoella Maurício Rodrigues
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: de Lima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D019529:Sexuality / Q000502:physiology*