Objective: To assess female sexual function through pregnancy.
Patients & Methods: A prospective descriptive study. 282 healthy
pregnant women recruited from healthy pregnant ladies with singleton
pregnancy, can read and write, in an ongoing sexual relationship since at
least 6 months preconception and free from maternal or fetal complications
that may restrain sexual intercourse throughout pregnancy period and with
FSFI total score ≥ 28.1 at baseline. FSFI questionnaire was filled in at the
initial antenatal visit and at end of each gestational trimester to assess the
female sexual function and dysfunction.
Results: All female sexual function domains significantly changed through
pregnancy course compared to prepregnancy state. Total FSFI score had
declined from 31.5 ±2.5 preconception to (22.9 ±7.6, 26.6 ±5.8 & 19.1
±6.8) during the three pregnancy trimesters, respectively.
Conclusion: Based on the study findings it can be concluded that
pregnancy influences female sexual function. Specifically, desire, arousal
and satisfaction domains, they were decreased in the first trimester
compared to the preconception state, while better scores were reported in
the second trimester than that in the first trimester and the greatest decrease
was observed in the third trimester. Pain and orgasm were decreased while
lubrication was increased by advancing gestation.