Vaginal or C-Section, Method of Childbirth Won't Affect a Couple's Sex Life Later

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Childbirth shouldn’t put any dent in your future lovin’, regardless of the way your baby was delivered, new research assures.

Sexual enjoyment isn’t affected at all by method of delivery in the years following childbirth, according to a study involving the mothers of more than 14,000 babies born in the United Kingdom between April 1991 and December 1992.

The study was prompted by suggestions that Cesarean section births might maintain sexual well-being better than vaginal delivery, due to the reduced risk of tearing and preservation of vaginal tone, the researchers said.

Prior research has found little difference in how the two types of delivery affect a couple's sex life, but these studies usually covered only the six months following birth.

For the new study, researchers in the United Kingdom and Sweden followed women for up to 18 years. They found no difference between C-section and vaginal delivery when it comes to sexual enjoyment or frequency of sex.

“Rates of Cesarean section have been rising over the last 20 years due to many contributing factors and, importantly, it has been suggested that Cesarean section maintains sexual well-being compared to vaginal delivery,” said lead researcher Florence Martin, a doctoral student in epidemiology at Bristol Medical School in England.

“This research provides expectant mothers, as well as women who have given birth, with really important information and demonstrates that there was no difference in sexual enjoyment or sexual frequency at any timepoint postpartum between women who gave birth via Cesarean section and those who delivered vaginally,” she said in a university news release.

The findings were published online recently in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

More information

The Cleveland Clinic has more about methods of delivery.

SOURCE: University of Bristol, news release, July 20, 2022