Introduction High estrogen levels could reduce pregnancy rates by disrupting the implantation of the embryo into the endometrium in patients treated with fresh cycles of in vitro fertilization. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of estrogen levels on...

BACKGROUND:The aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting the sex lives of middle-aged women, and whether surgical menopause affects sexual function differently from natural menopause, by comparing effects on sexual performance of women w...

BACKGROUND:The aim of the present study was to compare procalcitonin and CRP levels in maternal serum and fetal cord blood samples of patients with idiopathic intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) vs. a control group of appropriate for gestational a...

Aim: COVI-19 pandemic causes stress between individuals, and this stress can affect the quality of couples’ sexual relationships. This study aimed to examine the quality of women’s sexual life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at May-June 2020. 235 sexually active women aged 18 to 51 years participated in this study. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was used to examine women’s sexuality from six different perspectives: desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. Due to quarantine restrictions, questionnaires were emailed to participants. Results: The participants’ age range was 18 to 51, with an average of 29.6 ± 6.08 years. The total FSFI score with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 26.75 had an average of 18.12 ± 6.23. Since the cut-off value for female sexual dysfunction is 26.0, it can be concluded that, on average, participants had poor function and quality of sexual intercourse in the previous four weeks during the lockdown. The values of the FSFI score were significantly different according to the age of the woman (p-value = 0.003), the age of the man (p-value = 0.005), and months of marriage (p-value = 0.006). The woman’s age (Sig. = 0.008), the man’s age (Sig. = 0.004), and the month of marriage (Sig. = 0.02) had a significant and negative correlation with the total FSFI score. Conclusion: This study showed that the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown reduced women’s sex life quality. Our results also show that the older women and men are, the lower their sexual satisfaction will be, which may be due to the higher risk of COVID-19 for the elderly.

The possible correlation between nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (NVP) with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and alexithymia were examined in this cross-sectional study. A cohort of pregnant women at the first trimester of pregnancy experiencing NVP were divided into three groups, according to severity (mild, moderate and severe) with the Pregnancy Unique Quantification of Emesis and Nausea (PUQE) test. The Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Scale (MOCQ) and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) were applied. Scores of scales were compared in all three groups, and the relationship between NVP severity and OCD and alexithymia was evaluated. On the 110 enrolled pregnant women, 42 had mild, 36 had moderate and 32 had severe NVP. Pregnant women with mild NVP had lower MOCQ scores than those with severe NVP (p = .010). Total scores of TAS-20 were higher among subjects with greater NVP severity (p < .001). PUQE scores were demonstrated significant correlations with MOCQ and total and subsection scores of the TAS-20, regardless of NVP groups. Study results showed that women with more pronounced OCD and/or alexithymia can experience somatic complaints, such as NVP, particularly intense in their first trimester of pregnancies. For this reason, psychotherapy in addition to medical treatments could be recommended to pregnant women with severe NVP.

Aim: To determine how the adrenomedullin (ADM) level in a woman’s serum on the day of embryo transfer affects pregnancy results. Materials & Methods: Women who had undergone frozen embryo transf... Lay abstract Implantation is the most important stage of in vitro fertilization. Despite a great many improvements in in vitro fertilization, the mechanism behind embryonic implantation remains a c...