How intimacy changes during pregnancy
During pregnancy the sexual desire of both partners can change either with an increase in desire or with a decrease, but it may not undergo too many alterations, it depends a lot on the sex life that the couple had before discovering the pregnancy.
During pregnancy, the couple may notice changes in their intimate relationship, so what happens to intimacy in pregnancy?
It is essential that, even if both partners have a dizzying drop in desire, other emotional channels are privileged such as caresses, cuddles or massages to keep the couple’s intimacy alive.
The changes of intimacy in pregnancy
From the beginning of pregnancy until the end of the first trimester, a woman experiences many hormonal and psychological changes .
The woman is influenced by hormones that often make the breasts more taut, which can cause slight discomfort or real pain and the sexual organs become more sensitive .
Nausea, vomiting and a lot of tiredness can also appear , which change the rhythms and habits of the woman and therefore of the couple. At times, therefore, the expectant mother may have a decrease in desire and often the man is not immediately able to understand the female psycho-emotional state and thus begins to feel rejected and, at times, even a little worried about the place that the child will take in his life.
On the contrary, in some women the desire to have sexual intercourse may increase, sometimes because the need for confirmation and reassurance about one’s body increases, other times because a more regular lifestyle, without alcohol, without smoking with a healthier diet and balanced affect libido, body image and self-esteem which are closely related to sexuality.
The decrease in desire in men
Sometimes, on the other hand, it is men who have a decrease in desire which may be due to the need to protect the future mother and the baby she is carrying, becoming much more protective and caring, feeling proud of their confirmation of virility, or because all these changes psycho-physical aspects of the woman annoy them, inhibit them and consequently there is a decrease in desire for the partner.
The second trimester is usually the quietest period of pregnancy .
The couple became aware of the pregnancy and achieved a balance of general well-being.
The tiredness of the woman begins to disappear, the belly is not yet so bulky as to have to think of new positions for making love and the more shapely body of the woman helps the expectant mother to feel more sexy and feminine and the man, recognizing in she this increased sensuality leads the couple to a recovery of the desire for sexuality where femininity and virility are at the peak of their possibilities, as the vessel congestion reduces the vaginal orifice, during intercourse and sensations and pleasure are duplicated.
The female orgasm can sometimes cause small painful contractions in the uterus but which have no consequences for the baby in the womb.
The change of the female body
However, sometimes some women, due to the changes in their body, may no longer recognize themselves and no longer feel feminine, and other times they are too worried about the future that they are unable to live the present peacefully and this can also happen to men who are starting to worry about future responsibilities and therefore feel inadequate to the new and future parental dimension, consequently influencing the libido.
Sometimes it happens that the more rounded aspect of the woman, and above all of the belly, inhibits the sexual desire of the partner and that therefore he feels a rejection in the new forms of the woman so much that he doesn’t feel any sexual desire towards him.
Intimacy in pregnancy in the third and last trimester
In the third trimester sometimes a little tiredness starts again, the changes in the body become evident especially with regard to the abdomen and usually the sexuality also changes significantly. At times, the woman begins to have a contrasting relationship with her own body, as some stretch marks often appear, the child begins to move more and more frequently, relatives and friends constantly touch the belly, sometimes medical checks intensify and all of this can interfere with the serenity that was achieved in the second trimester and continuing to feel feminine in a much changed body becomes increasingly difficult.
All these physical and psychological changes also affect the body and consequently sexual activity may also suffer a slight decline. Sometimes even the man begins to see his partner a little less as a lover and more as a future mother for this reason sexual desire can suffer a slight decrease.
It is the harmony of the couple that counts
Despite all these new changes, many couples who are very close both physically and psychologically change their sexual activity only as regards the positions to be taken, as the growing belly and lowering cervix make other positions necessary to make love.
Often many couples, knowing that their lives will change in a few months, intensify their sexual activity to enjoy and make the most of this moment just for them. In these couples, who have never stopped having intimate relationships and have lived them serenely and therefore have not suffered any kind of rupture during pregnancy, it will be much easier to restore both emotional and sexual balance after the birth of the child.
Medical contraindications for sexual intercourse in pregnancy
There are also, only in some cases, medical contraindications for having sexual intercourse, such as:
- in case of small bleeding in early pregnancy;
- in case of placenta previa (when the placenta compresses the neck of the uterus);
- in case of risk of premature birth;
- in case of spontaneous abortions it is better to avoid any type of penetration for the first 2/3 months.
In any case, the fulcrum of the proper functioning of every couple even during pregnancy, passes through communication , listening to the partner with respect to one’s fears and needs knowing that one can express oneself freely with one’s inhibitions and one’s emotions that they are rehearsing these nine months.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.