FRIDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- Sexual satisfaction is higher in nulliparous women than in parous women, according to the results of a study of twins published in the April issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. The findings suggest that childbirth affects sexual function in the long-term.
Sylvia M. Botros, M.D., of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and colleagues administered the Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire to 542 twin sisters, and compared scores of 29 twin pairs in which one twin had given birth and one twin had not.
Sexual satisfaction was significantly higher in nulliparous women than in their parous twins. Diminished sexual satisfaction was linked to age 50, stress urinary incontinence, urge urinary incontinence and fecal incontinence, the researchers report. In women who delivered vaginally, neither the method of delivery nor episiotomy were linked to sexual satisfaction.
"Nulliparous women reported superior sexual satisfaction scores compared with parous women, regardless of age and mode of delivery," the authors write. "Childbirth appears to have a lasting impact on sexual function, due to psychological more than physical factors, well beyond the postpartum period."
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