Ellie McDonald1, Hannah Woolhouse2, Stephanie J Brown3. 1. Healthy Mothers Healthy Families Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia. Electronic address: ellie.mcdonald@mcri.edu.au. 2. Healthy Mothers Healthy Families Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia. Electronic address: hannah.woolhouse@mcri.edu.au. 3. Healthy Mothers Healthy Families Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia. Electronic address: stephanie.brown@mcri.edu.au.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: to investigate the experiences of first time mothers with regard to emotional and sexual intimacy in the period from birth to 18 months postpartum. DESIGN: prospective pregnancy cohort, with follow-up at 3, 6, 12 and 18 months postpartum. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: first-time mothers were recruited in early pregnancy at 6 public maternity hospitals in Melbourne, Australia. FINDINGS: 1239 women who completed the baseline questionnaire and all follow up questionnaires were included in the sample for analysis: 78% resumed vaginal sex by 3 months postpartum, 94% by 6 months and 98% by 12 months postpartum. Emotional satisfaction with intimate partner relationships declined over time, from 67.3% reporting high satisfaction at 3 months to 53.9% at 18 months postpartum. In contrast, sex was described as extremely or very pleasurable by 40.1% of women at 3 months postpartum, compared with 49.1% at 18 months postpartum. There was a strong association between emotional satisfaction and the degree to which women experienced physical pleasure in their sexual relationship. Women who were happy with their partner's contribution to household tasks were markedly more likely to report high emotional satisfaction (OR 10.31, 95% CI6.7-15.9) and somewhat more likely to report greater physical pleasure in their sexual relationship (OR 2.32, 95% CI 1.5-3.5). KEY CONCLUSIONS: women experience profound changes in their sexual and intimate relationships in the first 18 months postpartum. While sex appears to improve over time, emotional satisfaction appears to decline. Partner involvement in household tasks is associated with greater emotional satisfaction. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: pregnant women and their partners may benefit from information and discussion about the likelihood of changes to their emotional and sexual relationships after childbirth.
OBJECTIVE: to investigate the experiences of first time mothers with regard to emotional and sexual intimacy in the period from birth to 18 months postpartum. DESIGN: prospective pregnancy cohort, with follow-up at 3, 6, 12 and 18 months postpartum. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: first-time mothers were recruited in early pregnancy at 6 public maternity hospitals in Melbourne, Australia. FINDINGS: 1239 women who completed the baseline questionnaire and all follow up questionnaires were included in the sample for analysis: 78% resumed vaginal sex by 3 months postpartum, 94% by 6 months and 98% by 12 months postpartum. Emotional satisfaction with intimate partner relationships declined over time, from 67.3% reporting high satisfaction at 3 months to 53.9% at 18 months postpartum. In contrast, sex was described as extremely or very pleasurable by 40.1% of women at 3 months postpartum, compared with 49.1% at 18 months postpartum. There was a strong association between emotional satisfaction and the degree to which women experienced physical pleasure in their sexual relationship. Women who were happy with their partner's contribution to household tasks were markedly more likely to report high emotional satisfaction (OR 10.31, 95% CI6.7-15.9) and somewhat more likely to report greater physical pleasure in their sexual relationship (OR 2.32, 95% CI 1.5-3.5). KEY CONCLUSIONS:women experience profound changes in their sexual and intimate relationships in the first 18 months postpartum. While sex appears to improve over time, emotional satisfaction appears to decline. Partner involvement in household tasks is associated with greater emotional satisfaction. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: pregnant women and their partners may benefit from information and discussion about the likelihood of changes to their emotional and sexual relationships after childbirth.
Authors: Lidia Pardell-Dominguez; Patrick A Palmieri; Karen A Dominguez-Cancino; Doriam E Camacho-Rodriguez; Joan E Edwards; Jean Watson; Juan M Leyva-Moral Journal: BMC Pregnancy Childbirth Date: 2021-01-28 Impact factor: 3.007
Authors: Esther Delgado-Pérez; Isabel Rodríguez-Costa; Fernando Vergara-Pérez; María Blanco-Morales; María Torres-Lacomba Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-01-15 Impact factor: 3.390