Gestação após gastroplastia para tratamento de obesidade mórbida: série de casos e revisão da literatura

Objetivo: relatar a evolução de uma série de casos de gestação em mulheres previamente submetidas à cirurgia de bypass gástrico para tratamento de obesidade grave. Métodos: cinco casos consecutivos de gravidez após gastroplastia ocorridos entre 2001 e 2004 foram avaliados. As pacientes tinham idade entre 30 e 34 anos e todas haviam sido submetidas à cirurgia de Capella. Aspectos clínicos, laboratoriais e do acompanhamento materno e fetal foram considerados, durante o período gestacional e após o parto. Foi realizada revisão da literatura internacional, por meio das bases de dados MEDLINE e Web of Science, utilizando os seguintes unitermos: gastroplasty, gastric bypass surgery, bariatric surgery e pregnancy. Resultados: todas as gestações observadas foram únicas e não ocorreram complicações obstétricas, durante o seguimento pré-natal e parto. Também não houve registro de recém-nascidos prematuros ou de baixo peso ao nascimento. Conclusão: nossos dados sugerem que a gravidez após gastroplastia é segura para a mãe e feto. Entretanto, em virtude do limitado volume de informação disponível sobre o tema, investigações adicionais são necessárias para estabelecer recomendações apropriadas com relação ao seguimento dessas gestações _________________________________________________ABSTRACT Purpose: we report a small series of pregnant women who underwent gastric bypass surgery for severe obesity, with a review of the literature on this topic. Methods: five consecutive cases of pregnancy after gastroplasty between 2001 and 2004 were evaluated, and clinical, laboratory and therapeutic features were considered. Patients were 30 to 34 years old and all had been submitted to gastroplasty by the Capella technique. The outcomes for both the pregnant woman and the fetus were evaluated. A search of the English language literature was done through MEDLINE and Web of Science databases with the following terms: gastroplasty, gastric bypass surgery, bariatric surgery, and pregnancy. Results: all 5 pregnancies were singleton. No major obstetric complications were observed and there were no premature or lowbirth weight infants. Conclusion: our data suggest that pregnancy following gastroplasty is safe for mother and fetus. However, since information about this topic is limited, further investigations are required to establish appropriate recommendations concerning the follow-up of these pregnancies

Applicability of non-pharmacological strategies for pain relief in parturient: integrative review

MORAES, Maísa Suares Teixeira; ROLIM, Lariane Thays Albuquerque; ENDERS, Bertha Cruz; FARIAS, Glaucea Maciel de; DAVIM, Rejane Marie Barbosa. Applicability of non-pharmacological strategies for pain relief in parturient: integrative review. Revista de Enfermagem UFPE on line, v.4, n.especial, p.131-136, May/June 2010. Disponivel em:< http://www.ufpe.br/revistaenfermagem/index.php/revista/>.

Significados e percepções de puérperas sobre as síndromes hipertensivas da gravidez e parto prematuro

Hypertensive syndromes in pregnancy (HSP) are configured as one of the major complications in the pregnancy and postpartum period and can lead premature newborn and subsequent hospitalization of the newborn to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This study aimed to analyze the perceptions, meanings and feelings of mothers on the hypertensive syndromes in pregnancy and premature obstetric labor. The research was qualitative and has a theoretical methodological the Social Representations Theory(SRT) in the approach to the Central Nucleus Theory. The study included 70 women, mean age 29 years, predominantly school to high school, most of them married or in consensual union, primiparous and prevalence of cesarean delivery occurred between 32 and 37 weeks of pregnancy.The data were collected from may to december 2008 in the Maternity School Januário Cicco in Natal , and obtained through the following instruments for data collection: questionnaire including questions about socio-demographic status; the Free Words Association Test (FWAT) and and verbalized mental image construction used three stimuli: such as pregnancy with high blood pressure, preterm birth and NICU, and interview with the following guiding question: what it meant for you to have a pregnancy with high blood pressure and consequently the birth of a premature baby? Data analysis was performed using multi-method obtained from the data processing by EVOC (Ensemble Programmes Permettant L 'Analyze des Évocations) and ALCESTE (Analyse Lexicale par Contexte d'un Ensemble de Segment de Texte) and thematic analysis in categories. The results will be presented in four thematic units under the following representative universes: HSP, prematurity as a result of HSP, NICU and the social representations of mothers on the hypertensive disorder of pregnancy sequenced premature birth and hospitalization of the child in the NICU. The results obtained by multimethod analyses showed similar constructions and point to death as the central nucleus and negative aspects, coping strategies, need of care, knowledge about the disease, fragility and meanings of the NICU as peripheral elements. It is considered that the perceptions, meanings and feelings of puerperal women in relation to HSPs and to premature delivery are a negative social representation, with representational elements that may have influenced the adverse effects on the disease and its consequences. We suggest action on the peripheral elements of this representation, with adequate orientation, early diagnosis, effective conduct, receptive attitude on the part of the team, health promotion measures and effective public policies, in order to improve the care provided to puerperal women, making them feel welcome and minimizing their suffering

Significados e percepções do homem diante da gravidez de sua companheira com síndromes hipertensivas

The general aim of the research was to comprehend the Social Representations constructed by the man in the face of his companion s risk pregnancy caused by hypertensive syndromes. The study is of exploratory and descriptive character in a qualitative approach developed at two public maternity hospitals, both located in Natal-RN, with 65 men whose wives had undergone high-risk pregnancy. The project was submitted to the Ethics on Research Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil (CEP-UFRN), with favorable report no. 81/07. For data collection, the following multimethods were employed: a word free association test; a projective test for registering mental images; and a semistructured interview schedule. The speech contents were analyzed in accordance with the Theory of Social Representations and complemented by the Central Nucleus Theory. The discussion of the results was grounded on literary findings of the companion s participation in pregnancy as well as in risk pregnancy associated with hypertensive syndromes. The data showed fear as representation s central nucleus, while recollections of that feeling referred to death of both companion and child in addition to fear of the unknown. The categories preoccupation and carefulness, other feelings, and clinical picture of the disease represented components of the peripheral nucleus. The results concerning mental images followed the same category criteria of the word free association test fear, other feelings, preoccupation, carefulness, and clinical picture of the disease. After being processed in accordance with the principles of content analysis, the statements originated three thematic unities: fear and insecurity in the presence of the companion s risk pregnancy; attitudes of carefulness to the risk pregnancy of the partner; and humanized assistance during the companion s risk pregnancy. Considering the results, the conclusion is that the partner s risk pregnancy caused by hypertensive syndromes represents, for the man, feelings of fear, preoccupation, insecurity, lack of acceptance and information, as well as attitudes of carefulness. The results reveal necessity of reorganizing the obstetric assistance with an eye to including the man as participant in the reproductive process. That demands extension of humanized carefulness to the companion with a view to make him an active coadjutor in the assistance of high-risk pregnant

Síndrome metabólica e fatores associados: estudo comparativo com mulheres que apresentaram pré-eclâmpsia e gravidez normal, acompanhadas cinco anos após o parto

Preeclampsia is defined as an extremely serious complication of the pregnancy-puerperium cycle with delayed emergence of cardiovascular risk factors, including metabolic syndrome. The research aimed estimate the prevalences of metabolic syndrome and associated factors in women with preeclampsia and normal pregnancy followed five years after childbirth. This is a cross-sectional observational study using a quantitative approach, conducted at a maternity school in the city of Natal in Rio Grande do Norte state. The sample was composed of 70 women with previous preeclampsia and 75 normal selected by simple random probability sampling. Subjects were analyzed for sociodemographic, obstetric, clinical, anthropometric and biochemical parameters. International Diabetes Federation criteria were adopted to diagnose metabol ic syndrome. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney, Student s t, Pearson s chi-squared, and Fisher s exact tests, in addition to simple logistic regression, were used for data analysis, at a 5% significance level (p ≤ 0.05). Statistical tests demonstrated elevated body mass index (p = 0.001), predominance of family history of diabetes mellitus (p = 0.022) and significantly higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the preeclampsia group (37.1%) when compared to normal (22.7%) (p = 0.042). Intergroup comparison showed a high number of metabolic syndrome components in women with previous preeclampsia. Altered systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.001) was the most prevalent, followed by low concentrations of high-density lipoproteins (p = 0.049), and hyperglycemia (p=0.030). There was a predominance of the metabolic syndrome in women with schooling 0-9 years (42.4%) (p = 0.005), body mass index above 30Kg.m 2 (52.3%) (p < 0.001), uric acid high (62.5%) (p = 0.050 and family history of hypertension (38.5%) (p< 0.001). Multivariate analysis of the data showed that the body mass index above 30 kg.m2, education level less than 10 years of study (p < 0.001) and family history of hypertension (p = 0.002) remained associated with the metabolic syndrome after multivariate analysis of the data. It is considered Women with previous preeclampsia exhibited high prevalence of metabolic syndrome and their individual components in relation to normal, especially, altered systolic and diastolic blood pressure, low concentrations of high-density lipoproteins and hyperglycemia. The factors associated to this ou tcome were obesity, less than 10 years of schooling, and family history of hypertension. Overall, this study identified young women with a history of PE exposed to a higher cardiovascular risk than normal

Assistência a mulher com câncer de mama em um cenro de referência no Estado da Paraíba

The assistance to women who have breast cancer is studied in a Reference Center in Paraiba and also the way this assistance is performed in a School Hospital maintained by SUS (Single Health System) is questioned. Breast cancer demands institutional organization, provision of financial, material and human resources, requiring, from the health system, effective assistance with new technologies which make it possible for the population their access to specialized medical services although it not always is able to guarantee those services nor the rights which the legislation granted them, inhibiting a proper relationship between the health professional and the patient. The theme is discussed through a transdisciplinary knowledge view and has as its theoretical referential the contribution of classical and contemporary authors from the human and social sciences and, as an empirical research strategy, the structured interview. The objectives of the research were: identify how the assistance to women with breast cancer is carried on at a Reference Center on Oncology in Campina Grande, Paraiba, identifying their difficulties and their satisfaction with the received assistance; draw up a profile of the women with breast cancer who were assisted in this Reference Center; understand their gynecological and obstetric antecedents, life styles, age group and stage of the disease when the treatment started; check their knowledge about their rights and which benefits they had received. Most women ranged between 40 and 59 years old (63%), which corresponds to the risk range of developing breast cancer. As to their occupations, 38.3% were housewives and 30.1% retired, whose family income was among those who received between less than a minimum salary and one minimum salary (58.2%). This population was mainly constituted of married women (60.2%), whose most frequent schooling was an incomplete elementary school (27.6%) and complete elementary school (24.1%), which added up to 51.6%. It was observed that the majority of the women seemed to be satisfied with the assistance received, noting that a minimum care was enough to define this satisfaction, although it is perceived that the access to the health system does not ensure the ideal attention conditions they need; it was verified that the availability of the services and the assistance itself are seen (in the local culture) as a favor and not as a right. It is also observed that only 30% of the women mentioned that they knew about their rights and the most mentioned ones were the disease assistance (13%), the medicines (13%) and the treatment (12%), which represent the most important triad to face the disease and around which the oncologic assistance most focus on. It is concluded that the condition of the users´ minimum existential of a public health unit and the condition of belonging to a lower social stratum were variables that influenced the respondents´ satisfaction in relation to the assistance received but the importance of the Reference Center for the women with breast cancer´s assistance for the whole region cannot be denied as well as the need to broaden the way the policy of the oncologic assistance in Brazil in the local realm is seen

O renascimento do parto e da (reinvenção da) emancipação social na blogosfera brasileira: contra o desperdício das experiências

The birth models of care are discussed, in the light of classical and contemporary social science theoretical background, emphasizing the humanistic model. The double spiral of the sociology of absences and the sociology of emergences is detailed, being based, on one hand, on the translation of experiences of knowledge, and, on the other, on the translation of experiences of information and communication, by revealing the movement articulated by Brazilian women on blogs that defend and bring into light initiatives aiming to recover natural and humanized birth. A cartography of the thematic ideas in birth literature is produced, resulting in the elaboration of a synthetic map on obstetric models of care in contemporaneity, pointing out the consequences of the obstetric model that has become hegemonic in contemporary societies, and comparing that model to others that work more efficaciously to mothers and babies. A symbolic cartography of the activism for humanizing birth on the Brazilian blogosphere is configured by the elaboration of an analytical map synthetizing the main mottos defended by the movement: Normal humanized birth; Against obstetrical violence; and Planned home birth. The superposition of the obstetric models of care s map and the rebirth of birth s analytical map indicates it is necessary to reinforce three main measures in order to make a paradigmatic turn in contemporary birth models of care possible: pave the way for the humanistic care of assistance in normal birth, by defending and highlighting practices and professionals that act in compliance with evidence based medicine, respecting the physiology of birth; denaturalize obstetric violence, by showing how routine procedures and interventions can be means of aggression, jeopardizing the autonomy, the protagonism and the respect towards women; and motivate initiatives of planned home birth, the best place for the occurrence of holistic experiences of birth. It is concluded that Internet tools have allowed a pioneer mobilization in respecting women s reproductive rights in Brazil and that the potential of the crowd s biopower that resides on the blogosphere can turn blogs into a hegemonic alternative way to reach more democratic forms of social organization. In that condition of being virtually hegemonic in contesting the established power, these blogs can be understood, therefore, as potentially great contra-hegemonic channels for the rebirth of birth and for the reinvention of social emancipation, as their author s articulate and organize themselves to strive against the waste of experience, trying to create reciprocal intelligibility amongst different experiences of world

Vivência do homem no puerpério

After the birth of a child, during the post-partum period, the exercise of fatherhood, the sexual relationships either marital or sexual as well as the definition of the male role are all aspects that can change. These changes are guarded and can contribute to strengthen the familiar bond or deprive it. Thus, this study aims to understand the male experience during the partner s puerperal period. In this period, the male interacts and participates according to his understanding of the post-partum period. The male experiences different situations with his partner, family and social environment. This research is descriptive-exploratory and has a qualitative approach. It was developed with 15 men that live with their live with their partners during the puerperal period. The data was collected through a semi-structured interview. These data was treated according to content analysis proposed by Bardin. These were analyzed through Symbolic Interacionism according to Blumer. Thus, three themes emergedshares of care in the home environment, meanings attributed to the puerperium, emotions emerged during the post-partum - the seven subcategories-taking care of the wife and child, supporting the family, moment to rest, fulfillment through fatherhood, sense of joy, feeling of concern and sense of exclusion. It was seen that the subjects experience post-partum mainly by taking care of their partner and child and providing support of the family. Besides the mentioned aspects, there was meaning attributed to the puerperal period, considering it a period of rest for the partner and above all, fatherhood. Thus, even understanding that it is excluded, the subjects expressed joy and worriness towards the child s future, related to the insecurity in which the country goes through in current conjuncture

Vivência de mulheres no puerpério : significado atribuído à revisão pósparto

The consultation for women during the postpartum period should occur between the seventh and tenth days, and 42 days after childbirth, to decrease the incidence of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. However, the effectiveness of such assistance in primary health care has not been achieved, especially in the forty-second day of puerperium. Facing this reality, the research aimed to understand the views of women about postpartum consultation. This is an exploratory and descriptive research with qualitative approach, developed in the municipality of Lajes/RN, Brazil, with women inscribed on the four teams that make up the Family Health Strategy. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 15 women who met the following criteria: be enrolled in ESF; have health mental preserved, have been entered in the Humanization Program of Prenatal and Birth, and that was, at maximum, 60 days postpartum. The data were organized according to the precepts of content analysis according to Bardin, generating three categories: prevention of puerperal complications, feelings related to life changes after childbirth, and postpartum care. This process of coding and categorizing a central theme emerged: the experience of women in the postpartum period. The data were analyzed according to the principles of symbolic interactionism, according to Blumer. The study revealed that the meanings attributed to the postpartum period for prevention of complications were directly related to home, to the consultation and postpartum care provided by family members and health professionals. The interviewees strictly complied with the rest under the influence of the context in which they were entered. But that has not happened with the postpartum revision because few mothers underwent this procedure. Therefore, the interaction of the interviewed people in their living standard as well as the feelings that permeated the post-partum were crucial to consider whether or not the post-partum visit as significant. According to the results, it was noted that disability guidelines and counter-references has impaired the access of women to postpartum review. Thus, further studies are needed on the subject, as well as a reorientation of health care activities in view of the consolidation of postpartum consultation in primary care

Qualidade de vida em gestantes no contexto na Estratégia Saúde da Família

The pregnancy as a process in woman's life requires several biological, psychological, relational and socio-cultural changes for the preparation for motherhood. By modifying its capacity and, at the expense of these factors, it is observed that the physical, social and emotional problems experienced by women during pregnancy can affect their quality of life, especially related to health. It had as objectives of this research verifying the quality of life of women in the context of the Family Health Strategy in a municipality in Paraíba, in order to characterize the sociodemographic aspects, lifestyle habits, and obstetric care of pregnant women and to characterize the fields of quality of life of pregnant women according to the WHOQOL-bref. This is a descriptive exploratory study with cross-sectional and quantitative approach. The population consisted of 120 pregnant women in primary care in the municipality of Sousa-PB. Data collection occurred over a period of two months by the own master's degree student and two nursing students in applying a standard form about sociodemographic characteristics, and obstetric care and the WHOQOL-bref instrument. The data collected were organized into an electronic database of the Microsoft Excel application, coded, tabulated and presented in tables, charts and figures with their respective percentage distributions. Of the surveyed, the predominant were age group of 20 to 25 years, Catholic religion, with a steady partner, low education, no employment, wage income of 01 minimum wage. As for the data and obstetric care, almost all had never aborted and reported to the care received as excellent. The most frequent complaints were back pain and in lower abdomen. Regarding quality of life according to the WHOQOL-bref, dissatisfactions that predominated in the areas were in the physical pain and discomfort, sleep, rest, energy and fatigue. In the psychological domain, body image and appearance, memory, concentration and negative feelings. In the field of social relationships, sexual activity and the environment domain, the greatest dissatisfaction with facets scored: financial resources, leisure opportunities and transport. It is concluded that the quality of life of the users interviewed were deemed unsatisfactory for these facets, indicating that assistance to this target audience should be done comprehensively and holistically, in order to accommodate the affected facets to improve the quality of life pregnant women attended in primary care

Atuação do enfermeiro na rede básica de saúde frente a gestante com infecção do trato urinário

The Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) in pregnancy is important as a consequence of the high incidence during the gestation. It is the third most common clinical complication in pregnancy affecting 10-12% of women whether prevalence is increasing in the first trimester of pregnancy, it may also contribute to maternal and infant mortality. Due the relevance for the results of obstetric and neonatal complications from UTI, these complications must be prevented, because it can lead to health hazards to pregnant women and newborns, producing a direct effect on morbidity and perinatal mortality. On this basis, it was defined as objectives of this research the identification of the profile of nurses from the Family Health Strategy (FHS) in the East and West Health Districts from the city of Natal / RN before the women with UTI and to verify the nurse performance during prenatal consultations. This is an exploratory study with a quantitative approach using a sample of 40 nurses active workers during this survey, it was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte Protocol n0 232/10 P-CEP/UFRN and opinion n0 080/2011. The tool for data collection was a structured interview. The data collected were organized into an electronic database application Microsoft ® Excel 2007, exported and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0, and coded, tabulated and presented through tables and charts into their respective percentage distributions, using the descriptive and inferential statistical analysis, chi-square test and significance level of 5% (distribution in relative and absolute frequencies) in the independent variables. Therefore, it was observed from these results that the longer action of nurses in the FHS from the East and Weast health districts of the city of Natal/RN contributed to the development of a greater number of activities to control the incidence of UTI in women who are attended in the prenatal care service, proven by significance in statistics

Avaliação do pré-natal na atenção primária à saúde no Rio grande do Norte: visão das usuárias

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the quality of prenatal Primary Care in Rio G rande do Norte, Brazil in 2012 under the program Improving Access and Quality of Primary Care. The study was cross - sectional, quantitative. Included 156 mothers of children under 2 years who received prenatal care at the health evaluated. We applied a ques tionnaire on profile, minimum queries, regularity of attendance, laboratory tests, vaccination, participation in educational activities, guidance received, clinical and obstetric procedures and prescription Ferrous sulphate and folic acid. The descriptive analysis of the criteria used Humanization Program Prenatal and Birth. The results showed that 92% of mothers had six or more visits; 85% with the same care was professional; 94% subsequent appointments scheduled. As for tests and procedures the percentage s were: Urine 98%; HIV - 96%; VDRL and 88%; 91% glucose; tetanus vaccination 93%; educational groups 56% with 36% participation, knowledge of the delivery location and 59% achievement breast exam 65%, 33% and preventive gynecological 43%; 98% supplemented wi th 96% Ferrous Sulfate and Folic Acid. It was concluded that there were advances in Rio Grande do Norte concerning assistance and there are weaknesses in the educational practices and conducting some minimal clinical examinations.

Avaliação da qualidade da assistência à mulher e ao filho durante o parto normal

The practices developed in the everyday life of obstetric services are sometimes out of step with the recommendations of the public health policies. Accordingly, this research had the objective of assessing the quality of the care provided to women and children during cases of natural childbirth in municipal public maternity wards of the city of Natal/RN, Brazilian Northeast. We developed a cross-sectional and quantitative study in two maternity wards that provide care actions to pregnant women at regular risk (maternity wards A and B). The participants were 314 puerperal women who were treated during the period between April and July 2014, whose children were born alive, through transpelvic way, with spontaneous or induced beginning of labor and that showed physical and emotional conditions to respond to the proposed questions. The data collection instrument was constructed on the basis of the recommendations of the World Health Organization focused on the care of normal childbirth and validated by skilled judges, and the final version has obtained optimum agreement (k = 0,96; IVC = 0,99). Associated with these recommendations, we used three indicators: percentage of women with induced labor or subjected to elective cesarean section (Indicator A); percentage of women served by a qualified health professional during labor and childbirth (Indicator B); and Bologna Index (Indicator C). The research obtained a favorable opinion of the Research Ethics Committee from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, under the nº 562.313 and Certificate of Presentation for Ethics Appreciation: 25958513.0.0000.5537. The analysis of categories related to the recommendations of the World Health Organization was conducted by means of absolute and relative frequency and the Chi-square Pearson’s and Fisher’s exact tests made the comparison of the differences observed between the two maternity wards. Furthermore, we calculated the percentage of the indicators A and B and with the results of the Indicator C, the quality was assessed as follows: the closer to 5, the better will be the quality, and the closer to 0, the worst will be the quality, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the differences of the obtained averages. The significance level of 5% was considered in all statistical tests. The differences between the maternity wards were identified with regard to the provision of liquids orally (p=0,018), stimulus for non-supine positions (p=0,002), existence of partograph (p=0,001), support or welcoming by health professionals (p= 0,047), intravenous infusion (p<0,001), supine position (p<0,001), use of oxytocin (p<0,001), food and liquid restriction (p= 0,002) and, lastly, the fact of the touch is performed by more than 1 examiner (p=0,011). The indicators A and B showed percentages of 13,09% and 100%, respectively. The overall average of the Indicator C was equal to 2,07 (± 0,74). There was a statistically significant difference between the averages of the maternity wards (p<0,001). The care actions provided during the process of labor and childbirth is inappropriate, especially in the maternity ward B. It is necessary to implement improvements and redesign the obstetric model in force

Análise do fluxo d’água na barragem Engenheiro Armando Ribeiro Gonçalves - Açu/RN

The solution of partial differential equation of seepage problems is difficult to find analytically, especially for situations that involve great complexity. To overcome this problem, software based on finite differences and finite elements are usually used. This work presents the use of a finite element software, the GEO5, to solve the seepage problem at a dam of very complex section, the dam Eng. Armando Ribeiro Gonçalves, which at the end of its construction suffered rupture of the upstream slope at the central dam and then went through a process of reconstruction and auscultation. The analyses were performed for the operating condition of the reservoir, with an established flow. A numerical model was developed based on the level readings of the reservoir water and their piezometric readings as a proposal for the evaluation and future behavior prediction of the dam on established flow conditions. The use of constitutive models with the aid of computer systems is reflected in a way to predict future risk situations so they can be prevented

Relação entre função sexual, sintomatologia depressiva e qualidade de vida em mulheres grávidas

INTRODUCTION: Human sexuality is recognized as one of the pillars of quality of life. In women, sexual function is influenced throughout life by many factors that can lead to the appearance of changes in the cycle of sexual response, and hence the quality of life (QOL). Pregnancy is a period of change, leaving them physically and mentally vulnerable, which may affect sexual function and quality of life during pregnancy. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between sexual function, presence of depressive symptoms and quality of life in pregnant women. METHODS: The study included 207 pregnant women attending prenatal examination of the Maternity Divine Love, Parnamirim / RN and the participants of the Course for Pregnant Women of the Department of Physical Therapy at UFRN (central campus). Initially it was applied, a questionnaire containing questions about sociodemographic, gynecological and obstetric data, as well as body and sexual self-knowledge. Sexual function was assessed using the Sexual Function Index Female (Female Sexual Function Index - FSFI). To assess the quality of life, we used the Quality Index Ferrans Life & Powers mom. The presence of depressive symptoms was verified by applying the Beck Depression Inventory. The Shapiro-Wilk test for normality was carried variables, Mann-Whitney test for carrying out the comparisons and the Wilcoxon test for comparing the monthly sexual frequency before and during pregnancy. Multiple linear regression was used to verify the relationship between sexual function, depressive symptoms and quality of life. We used the Spearman correlation to check correlation between the variables. Ap value <0.05 was adopted. RESULTS: Sexual function and depressive symptoms were related quality of life (R2 = 0.30, p <0.001). Depression had a moderate negative correlation with quality of life (0.53; p <0.001), whereas sexual function showed a positive correlation with low quality of life (0.22; p = 0.001). The planning of pregnancy, education and income shown to influence depression scores. With respect to sexual function, it was seen that during pregnancy, a reduction in the monthly frequency of sexual partner (Z = -10.56; p <0.001). Among the sexual domain, just the pain, showed a statistically significant difference compared between the second and third quarter (Z = -1.91, p <0.05). The score of the quality of life of women with sexual dysfunction was xvii significantly lower than that pregnant women without dysfunction (Z = -2.87, p = 0.004). Conclusion: Sexual function and the presence of depressive symptoms are related to the quality of life of pregnant women.