Abstract:

INTRODUCTION: As a result of physical and hormonal changes during pregnancy sexual health of women affected significantly. METHODS: To evaluate sexual changes related to androgenic hormones and fetal gender in pregnant Turkish women RESULTS: There was a rate of 68% sexual dysfunction among Turkish pregnant women. The sexual dysfunction rate comprises the total and domain scores of FSFI throughout the pregnancy. Although the total and domain scores of FSFI did not differ between trimesters, orgasm domain scores were found to be decreasing with increasing gestational age. Along with an increase in total testosterone, the DHEAS level decreases with increasing gestational age. When the women with female fetus were evaluated for FSFI scores and androgen levels between trimesters, the mean level of total testosterone in third trimester was higher than the levels of first and second trimesters besides the mean level of DHEAS in the first trimester was higher than the levels of second and third trimesters. There was not any significant difference according to the androgen levels, FSFI total and domain scores between trimesters of the women with male fetus. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: We found a high sexual dysfunction rate (68%) among pregnant Turkish women. The level of total testosterone, DHEAS and FSFI orgasm domain were found to be different between trimesters. Healthcare providers should provide more time for counseling about sexuality and encourage pregnant women to talk about sexual health and problems during antenatal visits.

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