Health care providers and policy makers must be cognizant of the various sociocultural factors influencing health-related beliefs and health care utilization among immigrant and ethnic minorities in the United States. Culturally relevant screening strategies and programs that address these sociocultural factors must be developed to address the growing disparity in cervical cancer burden among underserved, resource-poor populations in the United States.

Introduction Pregnancy and childbirth is a special period in a woman's life, which involves significant physical, hormonal, psychological, social, and cultural changes that may influence her own sexuality as well as the health of a couple's sexual relationship. Aim To comprehensively review the literature on the effects of pregnancy and the postpartum period on a couple's sexual health and well-being. Main Outcome Measures Evidence from the published literature of the impact of pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period on sexual function. Methods Medline and PubMed search for relevant publications on the effects of pregnancy and childbirth on sexual health and function, with particular focus on the physical, hormonal, psychological, social, and cultural changes that may occur during the antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum period. Results Despite fears and myths about sexual activity during pregnancy, maintaining a couple's sexual interactions throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period can promote sexual health and well-being and a greater depth of intimacy. Conclusions Clinicians must seek to engage in an open discussion and provide anticipatory guidance for the couple on expected changes in sexual health as well as promote the design of rigorous, evidence-based studies to further elucidate our understanding of sexual function during pregnancy and the postpartum.

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Introduction Vulvar vestibulitis syndrome (VVS) is the most common pathology in women with sexual pain. Surgery for VVS was first described in 1981. Despite apparently high surgical success rates, most review articles suggest that surgery should be used only “as a last resort.” Risks of complications such as bleeding, scarring, and recurrence of symptoms are often used to justify these cautionary statements. However, there are little data in the peer-reviewed literature to justify this cautionary statement. Aims To determine patient satisfaction with vulvar vestibulectomy for VVS and the rate of complications with this procedure. Methods Women who underwent a complete vulvar vestibulectomy with vaginal advancement by one of three different surgeons were contacted via telephone by an independent researcher between 12 and 72 months after surgery. Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome measurement of surgical success was overall patient satisfaction with surgery. Additional secondary outcome measurements included improvement in dyspareunia, changes in coital frequency, and occurrence of surgical complications. Results In total, 134 women underwent surgery in a 5-year period. An independent research assistant was able to contact 106 women, and 104 agreed to participate in the study. Mean duration since surgery was 26 months. A total of 97 women (93%) were satisfied, or very satisfied, with the outcome of their surgery. Only three patients (3%) reported persistently worse symptoms after surgery and only seven (7%) reported permanent recurrence of any symptoms after surgery. Prior to surgery, 72% of the women were completely apareunic; however, after surgery, only 11% were unable to have intercourse. Discussion In this cohort of patients, there was a high degree of satisfaction with surgery for VVS. In addition, the risks of complications with this procedure were low, and most complications were transient and the risk of recurrence after surgery was also found to be low.