Pregnancy,postpartum and breastfeeding is a very challenging period in the women’s life. Many shared false beliefs and perceptions about this period can influence a pregnant woman’s sexual life and couple.

to explore sexual satisfaction, misconceptions and beliefs about sexuality during pregnancy and postpartum in women.

It was a cross-sectional study established over a period of 3 months from the June 1st, 2023 to August 31, 2023. This study focused on a population of pregnant postpartum and breastfeeding women recruited from outpatient consultations and inpatient of the obstetric gynecology department at the university hospital of Gabes, Tunisia. We used a pre-established sheet exploring socio-demographic data, medical and gyneco-obstetric history, informations concerning the marital relationship and the woman’s sexual activity and eight questions (yes or no / choosing an option) to explore the beliefs and perceptions about sexuality during pregnancy and postpartum. We administered the validated Arabic version of the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) to assess sexual functioning.

Fifty-eight women were included. The average age was 35.6±5.5 years, they had a university level in 40% and they were unemployed in 74.2%. They were from an urban origin in 75%. They were pregnant in the first, second and third trimester in (15.6%, 15.6% and 25% respectively). They were in postpartum in 43.8% of cases with a cesarean delivery in 73.3% and breastfeeding in 56%. All women reported being on good terms with their spouses and satisfied with their sexuality. The usual frequency of sexual relations (SR) was (1/day: 22.6%, 1/week: 74.2%, 1/month: 3.2%). Only 3.4% masturbated and 5.17% had sexual fantasies. Among women, 55.1% believed that RS is not allowed in the first trimester, and 67.8% believed that it can harm the baby. Only 25% of women believed that RS is permitted throughout pregnancy. 58.1% believed that RS in the third trimester could induce early delivery, and 30% believed that it could harm the baby. They all believed that post-partum SR is only authorized after 40 days. Among the sample 22.6% believed that SR is not allowed during breastfeeding, and that it can harm the baby in 13% of cases. The mean ASEX score was 13 ± 4.3 and 47% had sexual dysfunction. Regarding the frenquency of SR, 25% reported wanting to reduce the frequency, 3.4% wanting to increase the frequency and 71.6% were neutral.

A better understanding of the misconceptions and beliefs about sexuality during pregnancy and the post-partum period is needed to reduce restriction imposed on sexual activity during a normal pregnancy and to enhance marital harmony and the sexual life of the couple.

None Declared

Pregnancy and breast-feeding represents a period of psychological maturation for the woman who becomes a mother, a period of significant changes in women’s lives that affects their sexuality and intimacy.

To investigate the quality of sexual function in pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women.

It was a cross-sectional study established over a period of 3 months from the June 1st, 2023 to August 31, 2023. This study focused on a population of pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women recruited from outpatient consultations and inpatient of the obstetric gynecology department at the university hospital of Gabes. We used a pre-established sheet exploring socio-demographic data, medical and gyneco-obstetric history and informations concerning the marital relationship and the woman’s sexual activity. We administered the validated Arabic version of the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) to assess sexual functioning.

Fifty-eight women were included. The average age was 35.6±5.5 years, they had a university level in 40%, secondary in 37.5%, and they were unemployed in 74.2%. From an urban origin in 75%. They were pregnant in the first, second and third trimester in (15.6%, 15.6% and 25% respectively). They were in postpartum in 43.8% of cases with a cesarean delivery in 73.3% and breastfeeding in 56%. All women reported being on good terms with their spouses and satisfied with their sexuality. The usual frequency of sexual relations (SR) was (1/day: 22.6%, 1/week: 74.2%, 1/month: 3.2%) and 25% reported wanting to reduce the frequency. Only 3.44% masturbated and 5.17% had sexual fantasies. The mean ASEX score was 13 ± 4.3 and 47%of the sample had sexual dysfunction. We found a significant association between the sexual dysfunction and the trimester of pregnancy (p=0.045).Highest score of sexual dysfunction during the first and third trimester compared to the second one (68.9%, 77.6% and 22.4% repectively). The areas of sexual dysfunction were difficulty reaching orgasm (81%), impaired sexual desire (65.5%), insufficient lubrication (60.3%), arousal (55.1%) and pain on penetration (50%).

We found that sexual function is problematic among women during pregnancy especially in the first and third trimester also in postpartum and breastfeeding period. So what factors are associated with this sexual dysfunction?

None Declared

Pregnancy and postpartum is an important life event associated with profound physiognomic and psychosocial changes affecting the female body in all its physiological, psychic and affective reality. It might influence the sexual function in expectant mothers.

To investigate the relationship between the body satisfaction and perception and the sexual function among pregnant and postpartum women.

It was a cross-sectional study established over a period of 3 months from the June 1st, 2023 to August 31, 2023. This study focused on a population of pregnant and postpartum women recruited from outpatient consultations and inpatient of the obstetric gynecology department at the university hospital of Gabes. We used a pre-established sheet exploring socio-demographic data, medical and gyneco-obstetric history, the body mass index (BMI) and informations concerning the marital relationship and the woman’s sexual activity. We administered the validated Arabic version of the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) to assess sexual functioning and we used the body satisfaction and global self-perception questionnaire (QSCPGS) to explore the body satisfaction and perception.

Fifty-eight women were included. The average age was 35.6±5.5 years; they were from an urban origin in 75%. They were pregnant in the first, second and third trimester in (15.6%, 15.6% and 25% respectively). They were in postpartum in 43.8% of cases with a cesarean delivery in 73.3% and breastfeeding in 56%. All women reported being on good terms with their spouses and satisfied with their sexuality. The usual frequency of sexual relations was (1/day: 22.6%, 1/week: 74.2%, 1/month: 3.2%) and 25% reported wanting to reduce the frequency. The mean ASEX score was 13 ± 4.3 and 47% of the sample had sexual dysfunction. For the total score of the QSCPGS, we observe a mean value of 33 ±28.3, which means that our sample has a good level of positive body satisfaction and self-perception. The mean value of the “body satisfaction” factor is higher (23.7 ± 10.4) than the mean value of the “self-perception” factor (11.4 ± 14.3). The mean value of BMI was 28.74 ± 4.4 wich means an overweigh. We found a significant association between the “body satisfaction” factor and the sexual dysfunction (p=0.03), insufficient lubrication (p=0.01) and difficulty reaching orgasm (p=0.001).

We found that body and physical changes among pregnant and postpartum women can negatively affects their body perception and it might deteriorate its global sexual function. Further researches are recommended to study other potential factors affecting sexual function during this period.

None Declared