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Rasoul Alimi

and 4 more

Background: Although many women report sexual dysfunction in the postpartum period, controversial research has been reported the relationship between delivery mode and sexual function. Objectives: This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the sexual function after childbirth and identify the difference of sexual function in women with elective cesarean section and spontaneous vaginal delivery. Search Strategy: Studies were found by searching in Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar databases and considering the references of the related papers. Selection Criteria: All observational studies in English that reported the mean and SD of score of sexual function and its domains based on the mode of delivery were included in this meta-analysis. Data Collection and Analysis: Finally, 17 articles with a total population of 3410 were included in the meta-analysis. Random effect model was used to combine the results of included studies on female sexual function and its subdomains. Main Result: The subgroup analysis showed that there were no significant differences in the mean score of sexual function and subdomain among the three delivery groups(P>0.05). However, the mean score of sexual function was significantly differed in the term of time elapsed since delivery (P = 0.04) and studied country (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The result indicated that the mode of delivery are not associated with the female sexual function. As a result, women’s preference for cesarean section to avoid possible impairment of sexual function has gone almost under-questioned.