Main findings
We systematically reviewed the literature on obstetric risk factors for
sexual dysfunction up to one year after delivery, and assessed their
effect estimate. Eligible studies were exclusively observational and we
performed random-effect meta-analysis with subgroup analysis for sexual
dysfunction, for the occurrence of dyspareunia and vaginal dryness. We
did not find a significant effect of the mode of delivery. When
assessing the effect of perineal trauma, we found that anal sphincter
injury was associated with increased odds for both sexual dysfunction
and dyspareunia, and that episiotomy was associated with dyspareunia. We
found no association of vaginal dryness with any of the studied factors,
neither between body image dissatisfaction and sexual function up to one
year after delivery.