Introduction: Pregnancy and childbirth bring many physical and psychological changes for the woman and the future mother in the postpartum period. The first experience of sexual intercourse is, regardless of recommendations of health professionals, also a personal decision of individual woman and depends primarily on her birth experience. From an anatomical point of view, sexuality after childbirth is also affected by perineal tears and episiotomy, which affects the characteristic of sexuality after childbirth and the timing of the first sexual intercourse after childbirth. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to present a woman’s sexual function after childbirth and to investigate how episiotomy and perineal tears affect it. Methods: This thesis used a descriptive work method with a systematic review of professional and scientific literature. Discussion: After childbirth, women usually opt for later sexual intercourse if an episiotomy was performed during childbirth and if there were tears in the perineal area. Both resulted in poorer sexual function compared to women who gave birth without perineal traumas. The women had faster and more frequent intercourse after delivery while reporting fewer sexual problems. Women with episiotomy and perineal tears reported lower desire for sex, fewer orgasms, more pain, lower libido, lower arousal, and dissatisfaction with their sex lives. Conclusion: Perineal tears or episiotomy are very common in Slovenia and around the world and can make the postpartum period difficult for expectant woman. It can also affect sexual function after birth. If an episiotomy was performed during childbirth or if there were perineal injuries, women often decided to have sex later and reported more sexual problems. If the above problems do not disappear within a year after birth, women and their partners should receive professional guidance and counselling in the area of sexuality. It would be useful to include the FSFI questionnaire, which is a good criterion for resolving sexual dysfunction before conception, during and after pregnancy.
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