Sex After Baby

You’ve probably heard that care providers recommend waiting 4-6 weeks before having sex after giving birth. That’s usually to give your body some time for healing. But what about your libido? When does that come back? And once you do it, will it hurt? How will your body be different? What if you don’t want to? What if your partner doesn’t want to? Will you ever feel sexy again? In this episode of the Birthful Podcast, Kate Dimpfl helps us understand the new normal of sex after baby.

What we talked about:

• How breastfeeding can impact sex
• Feeling “overtouched” or “undertouched”
• Milk let-down reflex during orgasm?
• Will it hurt?
• Feeling visible again
• The message behind the “mommy porn” book (actually named Porn for New Moms)
• Finding your new intimacy
• Changes in topography: get to know the “new” you
• Your erotic brain
• Complementary care practices that can help you reconnect with your new body
• Positions for sex after baby
• Why lube is your new best friend

Related resources*:

• Love in the Time of Colic: The New Parent’s Guide to Getting It On Again, by Ian Kerner and Heidi Raykeil
• Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life, by Emily Nagoski
• Porn for New Moms, by The Cambridge Women’s Pornography Co-op and Susan Anderson
• Putting Sex Back into Birth, Kate’s TEDx talk (video)

Image courtesy of Kate Dimpfl

About Kate Dimpfl

Kate Dimpfl is owner of Holistic Childbirth  and co-founder of The Center for Perinatal Education and Support. As a childbirth educator, doula, and perinatal counselor, the main focus of her work is normalizing all women’s experiences of pregnancy and birth, while they prepare for life transitions that are often complex, private or need more personal attention. As a frequent speaker at Cornell University and TEDx presenter, Kate works hard to demystify birth as a way to encourage women to be empowered and engaged consumers in their care. In addition to her business, she also co-founded the Ithaca Childbearing Loss Network and is a founding member of the Ithaca Doula Collective. To learn more about Kate, you can watch her TEDx talk on Putting Sex Back into Birth or visit her Holistic Childbirth website.

You can also email her at kate[at]holisticchildbirth[dot]org!