Sexuality during pregnancy

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the changes in sexuality during pregnancy.
A prospective descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine at Santa Maria Hospital between July and September 2008. Puerperal women anonymously completed self-administered questionnaires regarding sexual perceptions and activities. Statistical analyses were performed using the chi-square test. Statistical significance was considered as p<0.05.
One hundred and eighty eight women, aged between 17 and 40 years with a mean age of 28.9 years, were analysed. 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 decreased of sexual activity during the third trimester. Fear of sexual intercourse was referred by 23.4%. Sexual satisfaction was unchanged in 48.4% and decreased in 27.7% (p<0.00), sexual desire is reported to be unchanged in 38.8% and decreased in 32.5% (p=0.196). Vaginal, oral, anal sex and masturbation was performed by 98.3%, 38.1%, 6.6% and 20.4%, respectively.
We determined in our study that sexual desire and function decline as pregnancy progresses compared with the pre-pregnancy patterns. A discussion of expected changes in sexuality should be routinely done by doctors in order to improve couples’ perception of sexual modifications induced by pregnancy.