How Does Breastfeeding Affect Your Sex Life?

When you have your little one at home just after a few days of childbirth, you would be busy with your baby-caring for it and feeding it. So, when you breastfeed your baby, you are not thinking of having sexual intercourse with your partner. This is because, after 9 long months of pregnancy and after bearing so much pain and exhaustion during labor and childbirth, most new mothers might not be interested in having sexual intercourse just after childbirth or while they are breastfeeding their babies. Moreover, throughout the long 9 months of your pregnancy and even after childbirth there occurs a rapid change in the levels of hormones in your body, particularly the reproductive hormones like estrogen and progesterone. Sexual intercourse with your partner after childbirth and while breastfeeding your child can lead to a lot of difficulties and physical issues that can be avoided by thorough discussion.

You should know that your body and physiology have entirely changed after childbirth and the body is different from it was before your pregnancy. Now when you are breastfeeding, it is very usual that this will affect your libido and sex drive. In fact, breastfeeding your baby just after childbirth can also lower your sexual desire altogether. When a new mother is feeding her little one the only thought that comes to her mind is whether her baby is getting enough milk and whether the child is contented with the mother’s milk. During this time, since the mother is busy caring for and nursing the child, she is least interested to indulge herself in any sexual activity. But, one must know that the lack of sex drive can affect the relationship of the new mother with her partner. So, it is important to know and discuss what effect breastfeeding your baby can have on the sex life of a new mother and most importantly, how she should handle all these difficulties.

Effects Of Breastfeeding On Your Sex Life:

There are a good number of impacts that are quite common occurrences in the body if a new mother, who is breastfeeding, gets involved in sexual activity just after childbirth. Here are some of the effects of sexual activity while breastfeeding:

1. Changes In Hormones: Deficienciency Of Estrogen Hormone

When you were pregnant with your baby, your reproductive hormones, particularly estrogen had increased rapidly. But with childbirth, there occurs a sharp drop in estrogen hormone. When you breastfeed your newborn baby there is a sudden increase in your oxytocin and lactating hormones. These hormones are known to cause greater impacts on your sex drive. This is because the increase in the levels of these hormones satisfies your emotions while you successfully breastfeed your baby and so, your sex drive tends to decrease gradually, and you feel less inclined toward your partner as you feel more contented while nursing your baby.

According to recent studies and experiments it has been found that most women who are breastfeeding their babies just after childbirth want to resume their sex life much later. After childbirth, it is quite natural that the level of estrogen decreases significantly, and this can notably decrease the sexual desire and arousal of the new mother who is breastfeeding her baby. Moreover, since there is a lack of lubrication in your vagina due to a low level of estrogen, sexual intercourse, particularly penetrative sex can also be very painful.

On the other hand, it has also been found in some cases that the new mother can have an increase in her sex drive due to the rapid hormonal changes in her body. But the new mother should know that it is normal to have impacts on her sex drive due to rapid hormonal changes during breastfeeding which will eventually get corrected. But still, if you think that you are feeling immense difficulties, it is advisable to take help from your health care expert.

2. Exhaustion:

After you have suffered a long nine months of pregnancy and the troubles of labor and childbirth, it is very natural that you will be very tired and exhausted. This feeling of exhaustion can lower your sexual desire and affection for your partner. In fact, this fatigue and exhaustion increase, if you breastfeed your newborn baby because nursing your little one and becoming a new parent altogether, involves a lot of stress, sleepless nights, and thus exhaustion, which can lessen your sex drive and will thus affect your sex life with your partner.

3. Pain In Breasts:

When you are breastfeeding your newborn baby, it is quite natural that you will have a feeling of soreness and tenderness in your breasts. Your breasts are already engorged since the time of your pregnancy and when you are breastfeeding your baby, it is quite natural that you will feel pain in your breasts and nipples. So, it might become quite difficult for you to have intense sexual intercourse with your partner with a feeling of soreness in your breasts while you are breastfeeding your baby.

4. Changes In The Body:

After pregnancy and childbirth, your body shape and image will not be the same as it was before the pregnancy. You will have an increase in body weight and some stretch marks will appear on your hips, buttocks, breasts, thighs, and abdomen, particularly when you are breastfeeding your baby. These might make you feel less desirable and can therefore affect your sexual relationship with your partner.

5. Leaking Of Breast Milk:

When you are breastfeeding your baby, sexual activity might be difficult because arousal and sexual intercourse might cause your breasts to leak out milk. This might interrupt the sexual activity with your partner and can be a very embarrassing in the way of sexual activity. Moreover, touching and stimulating your breasts and nipples during sexual activity can also harm your breasts and thus can affect the supply of milk to the baby.

How To Deal With The Impacts Of Breast-Feeding On Sexual Intercourse?

When you are giving birth to your child, the lactating hormones in your body come into play and produce milk into your breasts so that you can feed the baby right after birth. So, sexual activity during this time will be a bit difficult. But there are a few ways that will help you to get rid of these issues. Some of the ways are as follows:

1. Clear out the milk beforehand: If you are planning to have sex with your partner, then clear out the milk from your breasts so that there is no chance of leakage during sexual intercourse.

2. Use inners with breastfeeding pads: It is important to support your breasts while you are breastfeeding your baby. So, while having sexual intercourse with your partner, keep your breasts covered and supported with bras that provide space with nursing pads. Talk to your partner about this, because you will need the nursing pads to absorb any leakage from the breasts during sexual intercourse.

3. Let your partner know what is going to happen: Communication is a vital part of having sexual intercourse with your partner. Let your partner know what physiological and emotional changes you are going through while you are breastfeeding your baby. This will help you to have a safe and healthy sexual relationship with your partner who will understand your physical problems during breastfeeding and both you and your partner will not face any awkward situations even if there is a leaking of milk from your breasts or if you suffer any pain during the time of sexual intercourse.

Effects Of Painful Sexual Intercourse Along With BreastFeeding: According to recent studies and experiments it has been found by health care experts that sexual intercourse right after childbirth and during breastfeeding can be very painful. This is because, when the new mother has just given birth to her baby and while she is breastfeeding her little one, there is a lack of lubrication in the mother’s vagina because of the lower levels of estrogen hormone, the most important hormone required for sex drive, for which sexual intercourse becomes painful.

So, it is important to consult with your health care expert about whether you can have sexual intercourse when you are breastfeeding your baby and whether this breastfeeding period can harm your sex- life in any way.