Shaimaa Hashem^1,, Entesar Fatouh¹, Gehan Ghonemy²

The normal anatomical, physiological and emotional changes that occur during pregnancy impact pregnant woman’s whole life, including her sexual function and quality of life. The aim was to evaluate the effect of sexual health educational program on enhancing female sexual function during pregnancy. Design: a quasi-experimental design was used. Setting: This study conducted in antenatal clinic at Helwan General Hospital. Sample: A purposive sample of 240 pregnant women was used and equally divided into first, second and third trimester. Tools: two tools were used for data collection in this study, 1^st tool was an interviewing questionnaire to collect data about socio-economic characteristics, sexual health knowledge, effect of pregnancy on sexual function, sources of sexual health information during pregnancy as well as myths and misinformation related to sexuality during pregnancy 2^nd tool was female sexual function index (FSFI) which was a validated and reliable measure of female sexual function Results: The study denoted that there was an improvement of pregnant women’s total score of knowledge with statistically significant difference between post and follow-up test. More than three quarter (75.8%) of the pregnant women had good sexual function at the post test than of pre test. Conclusion: Sexual health education during pregnancy was effective in enhancing pregnant women’s knowledge, sexual beliefs as well as sexual function during pregnancy. Recommendation: providing sexual health counseling during pregnancy as an essential part of routine antenatal care.

sexual function, pregnancy, sexual health