Recovering Sexuality after Childbirth. What Strategies Do Women Adopt? A Qualitative Study.

Esther Delgado-Pérez,María Blanco-Morales,Isabel Rodríguez-Costa,Fernando Vergara-Pérez,María Torres-Lacomba

doi:10.3390/ijerph19020950

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the strategies used by women to adapt to the changes that affect the first sexual relations after childbirth. A qualitative study with a phenomenological approach used three data collection techniques (in-depth interviews, discussion groups, and online forums). Thirty-six women in the first six months postpartum participated in the study, from physiotherapy centers with maternal child specialties in several locations in Spain. Women with different types of delivery, presence or absence of perineal trauma during delivery, previous deliveries, and different types of breastfeeding were included. Among the strategies, closeness support and understanding were the ones that women used to adjust to the new situation, in order to improve the couple’s relationship, intimacy, and cope with the significant changes that appear in the first six months postpartum. Changes and adaptations in sexual practices become a tool for coping with a new sexuality, especially if it is affected by the presence of pain or discomfort associated with physical changes. Personal time facilitates emotional management and improvement of emotional changes related to the demands of motherhood. Accepting the changes that motherhood brings is critical to dealing with the new situation. Strategies used by postpartum women focus on acceptance, self-care, partner, couple time, personal time, and adapting encounters. The findings of this study are of interest to health professionals as they provide insight into how women cope with the changes that appear in the first six months postpartum. In this way, the findings will be able to transmit to couples the alternatives they can adopt before the resumption of sexual relations to improve satisfaction both as a couple and in terms of sexuality after childbirth.

Highlights

The researchers whose specialized work is developed in the field of maternity focused on postpartum care, have been observing the sexuality problems that women face in this period, in addition to the poor professional attention they receive
The mean age of the 36 women was 34 years, and the mean postpartum period ranged from 2 weeks to 4 months
Irish women were a early late postpartum period(up, present studywho focused oninthe postpartum period to 6 27 months), studying the phe-the present study focused on the early postpartum period, studying the phenomenon in the first months postpartum

Summary

Introduction

Motherhood implies adapting to new situations, including sexual relations [1]. Sexuality should be understood as a central aspect of the human being that is present throughout life [2] and is perceived differently at each stage. Women face multiple physical, emotional, and relational changes that inevitably affect their sexuality [3]. The postpartum period is described, from a medical point of view, as the time needed after childbirth for the reproductive organs to return to their pre-pregnancy state, being approximately six weeks in length [4]

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Discussion

Conclusion