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  • Title: Sexual function during the puerperium.
    Author: Grudzinskas JG, Atkinson L.
    Journal: Arch Sex Behav; 1984 Feb; 13(1):85-91. PubMed ID: 6712464.
    Abstract:
    Of 328 women interviewed at a postnatal clinic, 166 (50.6%) had resumed sexual intercourse, the average interval after delivery being 5 weeks postpartum. Of the various social and clinical factors examined, resumption of coitus was related only to marital status, vaginal laceration, and continuing vaginal bleeding. Of the sexually active group, 89% were practicing effective contraception. 328 English-speaking women in their 5th to 7th postpartum week attending postnatal clinics at St. Bartholomew's Hospital and the Mother's Hospital in Hackney, England, were interviewed to determine the time of resumption of intercourse during the puerperium and its relationship to a variety of sociodemographic factors, events during and after childbirth, and contraceptive practice in the puerperium. 166 of the 328 women had resumed intercourse. The mode was the 5th postpartum week. No social factor execpt marital status was related to resumption of sexual activity. The incidence of puerperal coitus was not related to onset or duration of labor, epidural analgesia, mode of delivery, birthweight, or events at delivery. Episiotomy in a spontaneous delivery was not associated with delay, but coitus was delayed in cases of vaginal laceration, with the significance related to the extent of laceration. There was a significant association between cessation of lochial loss and resumption of coitus, but no association with occurrence of menstruation or breastfeeding. 100 women experienced no undue distress during the 1st coitus, and the remaining 66 complained of varying degrees of discomfort, with 44 refraining from further intercourse. 149 women in the sexually active group used contraception during the 1st coitus, with oral contraception and the condom the most frequent. Only 55 subjects recalled the advice of the medical and nursing staff regarding resumption of intercourse.
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