Bio-Psycho-Social Factors Affecting Women's Sexual Function during Pregnancy: A Narrative Review

BACKGROUND: Sexual function is a multidimensional phenomenon which is affected by many biological, psychological and social factors. Since sexual problems can have many effects on other aspects of the personal and social lives, and on the other hand sexual function can go through changes during pregnancy, this study has been designed in order to review the factors affecting women's sexual function during pregnancy.

METHODS: A comprehensive search using key words: pregnancy, childbirth, sexual function and sexual disorder were conducted in the web search engines Google and Google Scholar, as well as the databases of PubMed, ProQuest, and Cochrane library. Science Direct, Scientific Information Database and Magiran. A total of 29 relevant international and Iranian literature sources meeting the inclusion criteria were included.

RESULTS: The results led to organizing the findings related to sexual function during pregnancy in three categories, namely biological factors, psychological factors and social factors.

CONCLUSION: It is suggested that evaluation of sexual health during pregnancy must become a main pivot of routine prenatal care. In this way, it is necessary health care providers to be aware of a number of risk factors that may contribute to sexual dysfunction in pregnant women.