New mums tend to wait longer to make love again

July 29, 2014  21:20

Sex is understandably the last thing on a woman’s mind just after giving birth – but one in ten are waiting as long as six months or more before making love again, Daily Mail reports.

Many appear to be putting it off for longer than previous generations, researchers said last night.

Exhaustion, pain and women’s self-consciousness about their bodies were the main reasons they were delaying intimacy.

Three-quarters of new mothers do not resume their love lives until some time after the six-week health check-up. But many women in the Seventies were sexually active again two to four weeks after giving birth.

Although no comparative figures are available, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service researchers claim more now seem to be delaying sex.

The charity said its research showed nature allowed a ‘wide timetable’ for women to resume lovemaking, and there was no set deadline.

It also said new mothers who do start having sex soon after birth often become pregnant unexpectedly before their baby’s first birthday because they did not realise they could become fertile again within a month of having a baby.

Clare Murphy, of BPAS, said: ‘There is no set time to start having sex again after having a baby’.

‘All that should matter for women is that it feels right for them and that they have access to the contraception best suited to their needs if they wish to avoid another pregnancy straight away’.

The women who waited longest were those who had an emergency caesarean section, tissue damage during birth or surgical intervention to make delivery easier.

Research shows almost one in five new fathers did not resume sex for more than three months, partly over concerns for their partner.

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