Mode of birth and long-term sexual health: a follow-up study of mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort
Objectives To investigate the relation between mode of birth and women’s long-term sexual health.Design Maternal follow-up of the Danish National Birth Cohort (1996–2002) in 2013–2014 including questions on sexual health. Logistic regression was used to relate registry-based information about mode o...
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| Format: | Article |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2019-11-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e029517.full |
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| author | Jørn Olsen Helene Kirkegaard Jim G Thornton Ellen A Nohr |
| author_facet | Jørn Olsen Helene Kirkegaard Jim G Thornton Ellen A Nohr |
| author_sort | Jørn Olsen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives To investigate the relation between mode of birth and women’s long-term sexual health.Design Maternal follow-up of the Danish National Birth Cohort (1996–2002) in 2013–2014 including questions on sexual health. Logistic regression was used to relate registry-based information about mode of birth and perineal tears with data on sexual problems.Setting Denmark.Participants Of 82 569 eligible mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort, 43 639 (53%) completed the follow-up. Of these, 37 417 women had a partner, and answered at least one question on sexual health.Main outcome measures Self-reported sexual health.Results Participants were on average 44 years old, and 16 years after their first birth. The frequency of sexual problems among women with only spontaneous vaginal births, the reference group, was 37%. For women who only had caesarean sections, more problems were reported (OR 1.18; 95% CI 1.09 to 1.28). For women who had a spontaneous vaginal birth subsequent to a caesarean, and for women with only vaginal births who had experienced one or more instrumental vaginal births, the odds of sexual problems did not differ from women with only spontaneous vaginal births (OR 1.00; 95% CI 0.91 to 1.11) and (OR 1.01; 95% CI 0.95 to 1.08), respectively.Conclusions These findings indicate that caesarean section does not protect against long-term sexual problems. Rather, vaginal birth, even after caesarean section, was associated with fewer long-term sexual problems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9ef762195934405ea8bf010907e36850 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-9ef762195934405ea8bf010907e368502025-08-20T02:48:57ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552019-11-0191110.1136/bmjopen-2019-029517Mode of birth and long-term sexual health: a follow-up study of mothers in the Danish National Birth CohortJørn Olsen0Helene Kirkegaard1Jim G Thornton2Ellen A Nohr31 Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA1 Department of Clinical Research, Research Unit of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Syddansk Universitet, Odense, Denmark2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Nottingham, City hospital, Nottingham, UK3Research Unit of Gynaecology & Obstetrics, Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, DenmarkObjectives To investigate the relation between mode of birth and women’s long-term sexual health.Design Maternal follow-up of the Danish National Birth Cohort (1996–2002) in 2013–2014 including questions on sexual health. Logistic regression was used to relate registry-based information about mode of birth and perineal tears with data on sexual problems.Setting Denmark.Participants Of 82 569 eligible mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort, 43 639 (53%) completed the follow-up. Of these, 37 417 women had a partner, and answered at least one question on sexual health.Main outcome measures Self-reported sexual health.Results Participants were on average 44 years old, and 16 years after their first birth. The frequency of sexual problems among women with only spontaneous vaginal births, the reference group, was 37%. For women who only had caesarean sections, more problems were reported (OR 1.18; 95% CI 1.09 to 1.28). For women who had a spontaneous vaginal birth subsequent to a caesarean, and for women with only vaginal births who had experienced one or more instrumental vaginal births, the odds of sexual problems did not differ from women with only spontaneous vaginal births (OR 1.00; 95% CI 0.91 to 1.11) and (OR 1.01; 95% CI 0.95 to 1.08), respectively.Conclusions These findings indicate that caesarean section does not protect against long-term sexual problems. Rather, vaginal birth, even after caesarean section, was associated with fewer long-term sexual problems.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e029517.full |
| spellingShingle | Jørn Olsen Helene Kirkegaard Jim G Thornton Ellen A Nohr Mode of birth and long-term sexual health: a follow-up study of mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort BMJ Open |
| title | Mode of birth and long-term sexual health: a follow-up study of mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort |
| title_full | Mode of birth and long-term sexual health: a follow-up study of mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort |
| title_fullStr | Mode of birth and long-term sexual health: a follow-up study of mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mode of birth and long-term sexual health: a follow-up study of mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort |
| title_short | Mode of birth and long-term sexual health: a follow-up study of mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort |
| title_sort | mode of birth and long term sexual health a follow up study of mothers in the danish national birth cohort |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/11/e029517.full |
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