Sex after childbirth

Image courtesy; http://pregnancyandbaby.com

Some women feel pressurized to resume sexual activities at six weeks after childbirth which doesn’t go well with them due to their experiences after delivery. There is a need for a straightforward conversation between mothers, partners and health providers at pre-natal stage about getting started with sex after delivery a new study suggests.

The study, published in the Journal Culture, Health & Sexuality was based on 70 in-depth interviews conducted with women in South California.

“Among participants, the most frequent recommendation from health providers was to resume sex after the six-week postpartum visit,” said Andrea DeMaria, an assistant professor in Purdue University’s College of Health and Human Sciences who led the study.

“But we found some women were ready before six weeks due to personal and partner desire, while other women expressed difficulties resuming sex, including pain and exhaustion from caring for a new baby,” DeMaria adds.

Women are advised to have continuous meetings with their health providers during and after delivery to ensure their wellbeing.

Postpartum care should be an “ongoing process rather than a single encounter, and that all women have contact with their ob-gyns or other obstetric care providers within the first three weeks postpartum,” states The American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.

The move by The American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology shows a departure from the current “one size -fit-all” approach of postpartum care says DeMaria.

DeMaria adds that “Providers should communicate to their patients pre-and postpartum that women have varied experiences with resuming sexual activity after birth, and there is not one strict recommendation or guideline that applies to everyone,”

This study helped strengthen past findings that revealed women differs in how they experience postpartum sexual desires and pleasures, which are often influenced physically by delivery mode, state of wellbeing and body image.

“If health care providers can bring this up and normalize these different experiences, then women and partners will be more aware of what they should be on the lookout for, that these feelings they’re experiencing are normal,” said Stephanie Meier, a doctoral student at Purdue and co-author of the paper. “Those conversations should continue throughout prenatal and postpartum.”

New mothers seeking advice on postpartum health should contact their personal health care provider, DeMaria said.