6 Common Reasons Why Couples Don't Have Sex Right After Childbirth

Friday, January 10, 2020, 17:32

There is nothing as beautiful as bringing your own child in this world or becoming parents. The birth of your child not only makes you feel complete, but it also adds a purpose to your life.

Though you get your own bundle of happiness you get to face some challenges too. Such as new parents may not get to spend quality time with each other. In fact, there can be a sexual dry spell phase after having a child, especially for three to four months.

For new mothers, the problem is slightly higher as their bodies demand some time to heal and too much sexual activity can harm their physical health. However, there are many more reasons due to which a couple may go through a sexual dry spell after childbirth. So let us check out these reasons:

1. Tiredness And Lack Of Sleep

As couples welcome their baby, they buck up themselves to make sure the child gets everything, which is needed for his or her health and growth right from the breastfeeding to the vaccination. Looking after every necessity of a child can be tiring and exhausting at times. Also, having a child means you have to go through sleepless nights because you cannot fix the sleep timing or duration of your child. As result parents, especially mothers suffer from lack of sleep and tiredness.

Once the child is asleep, the mother will look forward to taking a nap or finishing her important work. Hence, there is no time for sex or spending some sweet moments with the partner.

2. Breastfeeding And Vaginal Dryness

New mothers may experience low or decreased sex drive while they are breastfeeding their newly born infant. This is so because estrogen level decreases during breastfeeding and therefore, women's libido may go on a vacation. Due to this, their partners may feel annoyed.

Moreover, after giving birth to a child, the estrogen and progesterone levels in a woman may decrease significantly. This in return, affects the vagina resulting in vaginal dryness. It is noteworthy to mention that estrogen is needed for sexual arousal.

Due to low estrogen in the body, a woman feels uncomfortable while having sex. However, the hormone levels normalise after a few months of childbirth and therefore, the couples are able to resume their sex life after 4-5 months.

3. Expansion In Vaginal Muscles

During childbirth, vaginal muscles tend to expand to let the baby easily pass through the vagina. Even if a woman has gone through caesarian delivery her vaginal muscles expand due to the hormones that soften the vaginal opening.

Moreover, there is a process called episiotomy where a small surgical cut is made at the vaginal opening to help in easy delivery and preventing any tissue rupture. This makes it difficult for women to get back to their normal sexual routine.

Women may feel uncomfortable during sex due to vaginal expansion as well. However, it is not that the vagina won't return back to its normal shape but the time it will take to heal can vary from person to person.

4. Lack Of Time

Since the entire day is spent looking after the infant and doing some important work, couples get very little time for each other. They might not be able to spend time with each other or may try to dedicate their entire time for their little baby
Even if the couple tries to get into a passionate and intense lovemaking session, they fear one thing mostly that what if the child wakes up and starts crying or demands their physical presence.

In fact, they may try to have a quickie and rekindle their sex life but getting back into their sex routine may take some time.

5. The Fear Of Painful Sex

As mentioned above childbirth and breastfeeding can cause vaginal dryness and this can lead to painful sex. This in return can make the couple feel uncomfortable during their makeout sessions as nobody likes to have an unpleasant sex experience, as it can ruin their entire mood during the act. Well, if you are facing the same issues then you can try some lubricants to ease the pain during sex.

6. Low Self-Esteem

This is mainly seen among new mothers. As we know pregnancy causes weight gain in women, which is actually good for them. This makes them feel that they won't be able to have their body back and thus they become insecure about their physical appearance. So as a partner, you can make your woman feel beautiful and loved by doing sweet things that instil self-confidence in her.

Also read:6 Signs You Need To Bring A Change In Your Sex Life

Childbirth is not a cakewalk and a woman has to go through a lot of pain during that time. Therefore, instead of feeling anxious for not having your sex life back on track, you can think of strengthening your emotional bond. This will eventually help you to rekindle in rekindling your sex life after childbirth.