Sexual pleasure and emotional satisfaction in the first 18 months after childbirth

McDonald, Ellie; Woolhouse, Hannah; Brown, Stephanie

doi:10.1016/j.midw.2017.09.002

Cited by 37 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Pregnancy is one of the most meaningful life experiences for women [45] and sexual health is an essential part of their quality of life. [92] Similar to the literature about becoming a new mother [31], the women in this study reported the postpartum was not what they expected. This was especially true in terms of their sexual health.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…In this regard, the women satisfied with how their partners shared household responsibilities were more emotionally satisfied and reported better sexual activity. [31] The disruption of body image was another factor directly influencing the way the women perceived their sexual health as well as their satisfaction with intercourse during the postpartum. Although the women did not feel rejected by their partners, their dissatisfaction with their physical appearance resulted in them feeling less intimate and less confident about returning to sexual activity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, researchers reported at 18 months postpartum only half of the women (n = 1,239) in their study had high emotional satisfaction with their relationship while slightly less than half described sex as very pleasurable. [31] In the context of sexual health, there seems to be a late postpartum period that extends to at least 18 months in which nearly all women (98%) resume intercourse, yet 1 in 4 women continue to report dyspareunia. [32] Postpartum Sexual Health Conceptually [8] and clinically [11] postpartum sexual health is not well defined and lacks the requisite research literature to be well understood.…”

Section: Sexual Health and Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The meaning of postpartum sexual health for women living in Spain: A phenomenological inquiry.

Pardell-Dominguez

Palmieri

Domínguez-Cancino

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background Sexual health is a multidimensional phenomenon constructed by personal, social, and cultural factors but continues to be studied with a biomedical approach. During the postpartum the woman transitions to mother, as well as partner to parent and couple to family. There are new realities in life in the postpartum, including household changes and new responsibilities that can impact the quality of sexual health. This phenomenon is understudied especially in the context of Spain. The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience of postpartum sexual health among primiparous women giving birth in Catalonia (Spain). Methods This was a phenomenological study with a purposive sample of women within the first postpartum year. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews until saturation was achieved. Analysis followed Colaizzi's seven-step process with an eighth translation step added to limit cross-cultural threats to validity. Also, the four dimensions of trustworthiness were established through strategies and techniques during data collection and analysis. Results Ten women were interviewed from which five themes emerged, including: Not feeling ready, inhibiting factors, new reality at home, socio-cultural factors, and the clinician within the health system. The process of returning to sexual health was “figured out” as women engaged in experiential learning through trial and error. Most participants reported reduced libido after childbirth, experienced altered body image, and resumed sexual activity before feeling ready. A common finding was fatigue and feeling overloaded by the demands of the newborn. Partner support was described as essential to returning to a normal relationship. Discussions about postpartum sexual health with clinicians were described as taboo, and largely absent from the care model. Conclusion Evidence-based practices should incorporate the best evidence from research, consider the preferences of the woman, and use clinician expertise to make decisions. As such, human caring practices should be incorporated into clinical guidelines to recognize the preferences of women regarding their sexual health. Clinicians need to be authentically present, engage in active communication, and tailor their care. More qualitative studies are needed to understand postpartum sexual health in different contexts, cultures, and countries and to identify similarities and differences through metasynthesis.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sexual Health and Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The meaning of postpartum sexual health for women living in Spain: A phenomenological inquiry.

Pardell-Dominguez

Palmieri

Domínguez-Cancino

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Pregnancy is one of the most meaningful life experiences for women [45] and sexual health is an essential part of their quality of life. [95] Similar to the literature about becoming a new mother [31], the women in this study reported the postpartum period was not what they expected. This was especially true in terms of their sexual health.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

“…[27][28][29][30] The longer recovery can result in decreased emotional satisfaction, new relationship problems, and inadequate sexual pleasure. [31] Postpartum Sexual Health Conceptually [8] and clinically [11], postpartum sexual health is not well de ned and lacks su cient published research to be well understood. As a concept, postpartum sexual health has been described by four interrelated dimensions, including: physical, psychological, relational, and social.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The meaning of postpartum sexual health for women living in Spain: A phenomenological inquiry.

Pardell-Dominguez

Palmieri

Domínguez-Cancino

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Sexual health is a multidimensional phenomenon constructed by personal, social, and cultural factors but continues to be studied with a biomedical approach. During the postpartum period, a woman transitions to mother, as well as partner-to-parent and couple-to-family. There are new realities in life in the postpartum period, including household changes and new responsibilities that can impact the quality of sexual health. This phenomenon is understudied especially in the context of Spain. The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience of postpartum sexual health among primiparous women giving birth in Catalonia (Spain).Methods: This was a phenomenological study with a purposive sample of primiparous women. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews until saturation. Analysis followed Colaizzi's seven-step process with an eighth translation step added to limit cross-cultural threats to validity. Also, the four dimensions of trustworthiness were established through strategies and techniques during data collection and analysis.Results: Ten women were interviewed from which five themes emerged, including: Not feeling ready, inhibiting factors, new reality at home, socio-cultural factors, and the clinician within the health system. Returning to sexual health led women to engage in experiential learning through trial and error. Most participants reported reduced libido, experienced altered body image, and recounted resumption of sexual activity before feeling ready. A common finding was fatigue and feeling overloaded by the demands of the newborn. Partner support was described as essential to returning to a meaningful relationship. Discussions about postpartum sexual health with clinicians were described as taboo, and largely absent from the care model.Conclusion: Evidence-based practices should incorporate the best evidence from research, consider the postpartum sexual health experiences and preferences of the woman, and use clinician expertise in discussions that include the topic of postpartum sexual health to make decisions. As such, human caring practices should be incorporated into clinical guidelines to recognize the preferences of women. Clinicians need to be authentically present, engage in active communication, and individualize their care. More qualitative studies are needed to understand postpartum sexual health in different contexts, cultures, and countries and to identify similarities and differences through meta-synthesis.

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Risk factors for sexual dysfunction during the first year postpartum: A prospective study

Szöllösi

Komka

Szabó

2021

Intl J Gynecology & Obste

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Postpartum sexual function may be influenced by hormonal, psychological, social, and other factors, and this influence may result in a woman suffering from sexual dysfunction during the postpartum period. 1,2 According to previous studies, 20%-60% of women report dysfunctions in their sex life in the first 6 months postpartum. [3][4][5][6][7] In the literature, physical and psychological factors such as relationship satisfaction, depression, and mode of delivery have been examined in association with postpartum female sexual dysfunction.However, reports of the effects of these factors on women's postpartum sexual function are inconsistent. This could be the result of methodologic limitations such as cross-sectional study design, lack of long-term follow-up studies and validated questionnaires,

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Sexual pleasure and emotional satisfaction in the first 18 months after childbirth

Cited by 37 publications

References 30 publications

The meaning of postpartum sexual health for women living in Spain: A phenomenological inquiry.

The meaning of postpartum sexual health for women living in Spain: A phenomenological inquiry.

The meaning of postpartum sexual health for women living in Spain: A phenomenological inquiry.

Risk factors for sexual dysfunction during the first year postpartum: A prospective study

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