Sexual function of primiparous women after elective cesarean section and normal vaginal delivery

To compare sexual function between two groups of women who had normal vaginal delivery (NVD) and planned cesarean section (PCS).

In this cross-sectional study, two groups of healthy women, with antenatally normal singleton pregnancies at term, who underwent NVD (n = 114) or PCS without labor (n = 99), have been retrospectively studied. Sexual function of participants was assessed using physician-administered Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire before pregnancy and 6 and 24 months after delivery. Primary outcome measures were questions 3 to 6 and 14 to 16 from FSFI questionnaire. Secondary outcome measures included the remaining items.

There were no significant differences regarding six domains of sexual function, including desire (P = .55), arousal (P = .39), lubrication (P = .45), orgasm (P = .36), pain (P = .74), and satisfaction (P = .39) between the two groups. Eighty percent of women who had undergone vaginal delivery complained from hypotonic pelvic floor muscles.

We believe that PCS is not preferred to NVD in regard to preserving normal sexual functioning.