After childbirth, women may experience physical changes that can affect their genital response during sex. However, those changes may not affect their subjective assessment of sex, according to recent research in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
It is thought that vaginal delivery could damage autonomic pelvic nerves and that this damage could impair genital response. Some of these nerves might remain intact during cesarean births. However, it is not known exactly how delivery method affects the genital response.
The study compared three groups of women:
- Women who had had vaginal delivery during the previous two years (16 women)
- Women who delivered by C-section within the previous two years (15 women)
- Women who had never had children (18 women)
Participants who had delivered children had only done so once.
Each woman underwent a gynecological exam and participated in a structured interview, answering questions about their medical, sexual, and relationship histories and experiences with childbirth. The women also completed the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) as well as other questionnaires designed to assess depression and fatigue.
In a laboratory, each woman watched three videos. The first depicted nature scenes and was used to help the women adjust to the testing scenario. The second was a 15-minute baseline film, also depicting nature scenes. The third was a 15-minute erotic film that showed a heterosexual couple engaging in various sex acts, including vaginal intercourse and oral sex.
During the baseline and erotic films, the researchers used laser Doppler imaging scans to determine the women’s genital response.
In addition, each woman provided a real-time assessment of her sexual arousal during the baseline and erotic films. After each film, the women indicated their perceptions of their genital response.
Overall, 49 women completed the study. Their average age was 31 years. Most were heterosexual and in romantic relationships.
The results suggested that based on the lab results, women in the vaginal birth group had a lower genital response compared to the women who had had C-sections and those who had not had children.
However, results on subjective sexual arousal and perceptions of genital response were similar across the three groups.
Genital trauma and breastfeeding did not appear to affect genital response or subjective arousal, the researchers reported.
The authors noted that “it is still unclear what a lower genital response means in terms of the functional implications,” pointing out that laboratory results do not necessarily reflect what happens in everyday real life.
The “results underscore the importance of balancing objective and subjective indices of sexual response and function, especially considering the biopsychosocial nature of postpartum sexuality,” they wrote.
Because of the low number of participants, the results cannot be generalized to other populations, the authors said.
Resources
The Journal of Sexual Medicine
Cappell, Jackie, PhD
“Is Mode of Delivery Associated With Sexual Response? A Pilot Study of Genital and Subjective Sexual Arousal in Primiparous Women With Vaginal or Cesarean Section Births”
(Full-text. Published online: December 19, 2019)
https://www.jsm.jsexmed.org/article/S1743-6095(19)31814-4/fulltext