Evaluation of recovery and quality of sexual activity in women during postpartum in relation to the different mode of delivery: a retrospective analysis.
MINERVA GINECOLOGICA 2015;
67:315-320. [PMID:
24942141]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
AIM
Aim of the study was to assess the recovery and quality of sexual activity of women during postpartum, in relation to delivery.
METHODS
We recruited 200 women at 8 weeks after delivery. For each patient we recorded mode of delivery, age, body mass index (BMI), parity and test Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) score.
RESULTS
Sixty-four women (32%) had spontaneous deliveries without episiotomy, 48 (24%) had it with episiotomy, 88 (44%) had caesarean sections. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) test showed no significant differences among the 3 groups for age, BMI, parity. The test FSFI evidenced 68 cases (34%) of Regular Female Sexual Function (RFSF) and 132 (66%) of Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD). The ANOVA test showed significant differences among the 3 groups in RFSF (F [2, 14]=8.075, P=0.005), but not in FSD (F [2, 30]=2.646, P=0.087). In RFSF, FSFI score was higher in women who had vaginal delivery with episiotomy compared with the other two groups. Conversely, in FSD (both with or without resumed sexual activity at 8 weeks postpartum) we evidenced that patients who had vaginal delivery with episiotomy showed lower FSFI score than the other two groups, with a decrease in lubrication, orgasm and satisfaction scores. Furthermore, we observed that most of the RFSF patients had a job and breastfed.
CONCLUSION
Our results did not evidence a direct and significant correlation between mode of delivery and onset of female postpartum sexual dysfunction, even if FSD patients who underwent episiotomy during delivery markedly showed low FSFI scores.
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