Newborn babies demand significant amounts of attention. After bringing the baby home, the house needs to be kept clean, you might return to work and people want to stop by and meet the new addition. Who in the world has time for sex with all of this going on? Losing your sex drive after giving birth is not unusual, and knowing it is a temporary situation will help you relax.
Features
Your partner cuddles up to you at night and you have no desire at all. Lack of desire doesn’t mean lack of love. Women frequently report being disinterested in sex following the birth of their baby and the overload of physical and emotional exhaustion it entails. The good news is that it is typically a temporary condition, and your sex drive will return. According to MayoClinic.com, things should be back to normal within a year.
Causes
Several factors contribute to a reduced sex drive following the birth of a child. Newborns require a lot of attention, leaving you with little sleep, making you too tired and stressed to feel amorous. Breastfeeding mothers can feel overwhelmed by the physical demands of feeding their infants. Women who have had Cesareans need extra time for the abdominal muscles to heal, and women who have had vaginal deliveries can experience reduce vaginal muscle tone, which can sometimes interfere with the frictional pleasure of sex and impede arousal. However, this is usually a temporary condition, according to MayoClinic.com. To improve vaginal muscle tone, do Kegel exercises on a regular basis. Tighten your muscles as if you were stopping urine midstream. Hold that position for five seconds and repeat five times several times a day.
Time Frame
Your lack of sex drive may be driven by the low hormone levels in your body. During pregnancy and delivery, your progesterone and estrogen levels increased. Following delivery, they are reduced, which can cause vaginal dryness according to FamilyEducation.com. Your sex drive should begin returning within six months and be back to normal within a year. If not, you can seek medical advice. Your physician can order blood tests to check your hormone levels and if needed prescribe a progesterone supplement to kick-start your libido.
Solution
You can show love and affection to your partner without having sex. Taking bubble baths together, leaving love notes around the house and giving him a back rub after a long day at the office will let him know you still love him.
Keeping yourself in good physical shape can encourage you to feel romantic more quickly. Eating healthy foods, getting back to your exercise routine and getting as much rest as possible promotes healing of the body and mind. When you feel better, you may decide you miss having sex.
Warning
A lack of sex drive following childbirth is a normal occurrence. If accompanied by feelings of severe sadness, anger or hopelessness, you may be experiencing postpartum depression. Because this is a serious medical condition, you should contact your health care provider for an evaluation.
