WomensHealth
  • News
  • Health
  • Fitness
  • Sex & Love
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Weight Loss
  • Women In Sport
  • Podcasts
  • Video
WomensHealth
  • News
  • Health
  • Fitness
  • Sex & Love
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Weight Loss
  • Women In Sport
  • Podcasts
  • Video
This Simple, Effective Ab Workout Will Shred Your Six-Pack
Watch 0:23

This Simple, Effective Ab Workout Will Shred Your Six-Pack

{headline}

{headline}

13 Ways to Make Doggy-Style Sex Feel ~Infinitely~ Better

13 Ways to Make Doggy-Style Sex Feel ~Infinitely~ Better

How To Make Boob Sex Actually Enjoyable, Because It Should Be

How To Make Boob Sex Actually Enjoyable, Because It Should Be

Why Is Nobody Talking About Prolapse?

Why Is Nobody Talking About Prolapse?

13 Guys On What Constitutes Truly Great Sex

13 Guys On What Constitutes Truly Great Sex

{headline}

{headline}

Spooning Sex Shouldn't Be A Cop Out—Here's How To Make It Hot AF

Spooning Sex Shouldn't Be A Cop Out—Here's How To Make It Hot AF

Everything You Need To Know About Your Pelvic Floor

Everything You Need To Know About Your Pelvic Floor

The Spread Eagle Is (Unofficially) The Best Sex Position Of All Time

The Spread Eagle Is (Unofficially) The Best Sex Position Of All Time

{headline}

{headline}

People Are Sharing The Best Sex Advice They've Ever Been Given

People Are Sharing The Best Sex Advice They've Ever Been Given

This Is the Age Women Have The Most Orgasms

This Is the Age Women Have The Most Orgasms

7 Women Reveal How Long It Takes Them To Orgasm

7 Women Reveal How Long It Takes Them To Orgasm

Taking A 'Sex Break' Might Actually Be The Key To Better Orgasms

Taking A 'Sex Break' Might Actually Be The Key To Better Orgasms

Why Can’t I Orgasm?

Why Can’t I Orgasm?

This Reddit Post On How To Give The Best Blow Job Is Seriously NSFW

This Reddit Post On How To Give The Best Blow Job Is Seriously NSFW

40 Thoughts Every Woman Has When Her Partner Goes Down On Her

40 Thoughts Every Woman Has When Her Partner Goes Down On Her

  1. Home
  2. Sex & Love

What You Need To Know About Sex After Child Birth

And why you might be struggling to orgasm. - by Jen Dugard
  • 14 Nov 2019
What You Need To Know About Sex After Child Birth

When we think of sex after babies it can be met with all sorts of eye rolls and jokes.  Children – especially in the early days – don’t exactly offer a whole lot of space for intimacy. 

After having a baby many women can feel less than "up-for-it" – beds are shared, sleep is broken and many couples simply find it hard to re-connect straight away.

But over time (and hopefully with a little more sleep) there will come a time when you feel ready to slide back under the sheets with your partner, pick up where you left off and get to know each other again. 

 

Imagine then, when you have overcome all of those things that get in the way of mummy and daddy re-connecting, that things just don’t feel the same.

Where once you may have had no trouble reaching orgasm with your partner, now, it’s just not happening. Could it be that your beautiful little baby has ruined all of that desire to be together or could there be something else? 

The short answer is yes, it could very much be something else. Especially if you had a vaginal delivery. 

RELATED: 10 Women Share The Waist-Down Reality Of What Sex Is Like After Giving Birth

Why does sex feel so different after child birth?

Lets get into a little anatomy.  

Most women who have had a baby have heard the term "pelvic floor", though we don’t often know exactly what it does and how we could benefit from being more aware. 

Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles that sit within your pelvis. They are responsible for supporting the organs of your pelvis (bladder, uterus, rectum) when they come under load (jumping, coughing, sneezing, laughing). They help to prevent prolapse (any one of the pelvic organs falling in to the vagina), keep you continent and yes, you guessed it, enable you to have an orgasm – who knew!? 

Your pelvic floor muscles are split into two sets of muscles – the deep pelvic floor sits inside your bony pelvis, supporting your organs and keeping your bladder in the best position to remain continent. The superficial pelvic floor sits around the entrance to your vagina, integrates into your perineum (the bit between your vagina and anus), wraps around your clitoris. The superficial pelvic floor must be able to contract in order to create a clitoral orgasm. 

During childbirth the muscles of the pelvic floor can be stretched and damaged, and in some women this leads to the inability to experience an orgasm. This, in turn, can leave women wondering why and potentially impact the relationship she has with her partner. 

RELATED: 5 Tips For Strengthening Your Pelvic Floor Post-Baby

So what can you do about it? 

As fitness professionals, when we work with post-natal women in an exercise environment we know that our work goes much further than just the movements they are doing. Helping mums to move, to understand and to respect their body again has an impact on their physical, social, emotional and sexual health, and every aspect is important to consider.   

So, if you are a woman who isn’t experiencing the same sex life that you once had before children came along, this may be for you. We know kid-life will definitely impact in some way but if you know deep down that maybe something might be wrong physically, I highly recommend you seek out the help of an experienced women’s health physiotherapist and request a pelvic floor assessment to make sure that everything is working well, from the inside out. 

Who knows, a couple of appointments, some pelvic floor rehab (and a few kid-free moments) could leave you very thankful. 

I believe in starting the conversations women need to be having – if you have learned something in this article that you feel might help another woman in your life please share the love. Together we can create ripples and change the lives of many.

RELATED: ‘I Had A Baby And My Sex Life Totally Changed’

Jen Dugard's Body Beyond Baby is the go-to place online for women to find mum-focused fitness services that are all accredited, experienced and partnered with women’s health physios so you know you are in very safe hands.

  • Sex & Love
  • Sexual Health
Jen Dugard
Jen Dugard
Mum-focused author, educator and business owner, Jen Dugard, is on a mission to ensure every woman is safely and effectively looked after when she becomes a mother. She is highly qualified trainer with a Certificate III in Fitness, Certificate IV in Fitness – Master Trainer and Pre and Post Natal.

Subscribe Now-6 Issues just $39

Subscribe Now
Subscribe Now

Subscribe Now-6 Issues just $39

Subscribe Now
Subscribe Now

Recommended to you

This Simple, Effective Ab Workout Will Shred Your Six-Pack
Watch 0:23

This Simple, Effective Ab Workout Will Shred Your Six-Pack

{headline}

{headline}

13 Ways to Make Doggy-Style Sex Feel ~Infinitely~ Better

13 Ways to Make Doggy-Style Sex Feel ~Infinitely~ Better

How To Make Boob Sex Actually Enjoyable, Because It Should Be

How To Make Boob Sex Actually Enjoyable, Because It Should Be

Why Is Nobody Talking About Prolapse?

Why Is Nobody Talking About Prolapse?

13 Guys On What Constitutes Truly Great Sex

13 Guys On What Constitutes Truly Great Sex

{headline}

{headline}

Spooning Sex Shouldn't Be A Cop Out—Here's How To Make It Hot AF

Spooning Sex Shouldn't Be A Cop Out—Here's How To Make It Hot AF

Everything You Need To Know About Your Pelvic Floor

Everything You Need To Know About Your Pelvic Floor

The Spread Eagle Is (Unofficially) The Best Sex Position Of All Time

The Spread Eagle Is (Unofficially) The Best Sex Position Of All Time

{headline}

{headline}

People Are Sharing The Best Sex Advice They've Ever Been Given

People Are Sharing The Best Sex Advice They've Ever Been Given

This Is the Age Women Have The Most Orgasms

This Is the Age Women Have The Most Orgasms

7 Women Reveal How Long It Takes Them To Orgasm

7 Women Reveal How Long It Takes Them To Orgasm

Taking A 'Sex Break' Might Actually Be The Key To Better Orgasms

Taking A 'Sex Break' Might Actually Be The Key To Better Orgasms

Why Can’t I Orgasm?

Why Can’t I Orgasm?

This Reddit Post On How To Give The Best Blow Job Is Seriously NSFW

This Reddit Post On How To Give The Best Blow Job Is Seriously NSFW

40 Thoughts Every Woman Has When Her Partner Goes Down On Her

40 Thoughts Every Woman Has When Her Partner Goes Down On Her

WomensHealth
  • About Paragon Media
  • Contact Paragon Media
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Statement
  • About Paragon Media
  • Contact Paragon Media
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Statement

Brands

Our Network

  • Paragon Media Pty Ltd
  • Men’s Health
© 2021 Are Media PTY LTD
Get more from

Magazine Subscription Offer

Subscribe Now-6 Issues just $39

Shop This Offer
Subscribe Now