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Sexuality and pregnancy: A review

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Abstract

Marital success and failure may be related to sexual satisfaction, including orgasmic capability. Pregnancy represents a life crisis to the pregnant woman and her husband. Complex psychosocial and physiological demands may produce insecurities, anxieties, and somatic complaints. The expectant mother may seek to fulfill increasing nurturant needs through increased physical contact such as cuddling or being held. A pregnant woman's interest in sexual activity may be affected by her changing physical appearance and the hormonal milieu of pregnancy. Although there are marked individual variations and methodological biases and differences among empirical studies, pregnancy appears to be usually accompanied by a decrease in sexual desire, coital frequency, and orgasm. Sexual behavior in pregnancy has been traditionally restricted and is currently poorly defined. Sexual proscriptions may precipitate sexual frustration and marital estrangement. Abortion is only rarely caused by coitus. The relationship of coitus and orgasm to prematurity and distress of the fetus and newborn has not been clearly established. Coitus can indirectly result in maternal, fetal, and neonatal morbidity and mortality through the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Deaths from air embolism in pregnancy associated with cunnilingus and vaginal insufflation have been reported.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sexual Function Clinic, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, William Beaumont Army Medical Center, 79920, El Paso, Texas, USA

    Susan E. White Ph.D.

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Texas Tech University School of Medicine, 79409, Lubbock, Texas, USA

    Susan E. White Ph.D.

  3. Department of obstetrics, Gynecology, Behavioral Medicine, and Psychiatry, West Virgina, University School of Medicine, 26506, Morgantown, Virginia, USA

    Kenneth Reamy M.D., M.P.H., FACOG

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  1. Susan E. White Ph.D.
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  2. Kenneth Reamy M.D., M.P.H., FACOG
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White, S.E., Reamy, K. Sexuality and pregnancy: A review. Arch Sex Behav 11, 429–444 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01541575

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