Evaluation of women's sexual quality of life, depression, and sexual functions in the pregnancy and postpartum periods: A multi-centered study

Aim: This multi-centered, longitudinal, and prospective study aims to identify women's sexual functions, sexual quality of life, and depression and their relationships with each other in the pregnancy and postpartum periods. Methods: The participating pregnant women (n = 113) were interviewed six times: once in each trimester, and once in the eighth week third month, and sixth month postpartum. This study was conducted in three regions of Turkey including Marmara, Mediterranean, and Central Anatolia regions. Data were collected through the “Socio-demographic Form,” “Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI),” Sexual Quality of Life-Female Questionnaire (SQLQ-F), and “Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D).” While the first interviews were administered face to face, successive ones were administered via phone. Results: The sexual dysfunction rates of the participants were found to be high in the pregnancy and postpartum periods, and their sexual quality of life, which decreased as the pregnancy months progressed, was found to increase significantly with the progress in the postpartum period. The sexual dysfunction increased and sexual quality of life decreased significantly with the increase in depression symptoms in the pregnancy and postpartum periods. When the depressive symptoms decreased especially in the sixth month postpartum, sexual quality of life was also found to increase. Conclusions: As a result, in the pregnancy and postpartum periods, it is highly important to provide women with diagnosis through a holistic approach by creating available environments to assess their psychological health and sexual functions and refer them to the related physicians when necessary.