sexual positions and emotional investment

#Sexual positions and emotional investment professional#

Therefore, it is important to talk about feelings during pregnancy and address insecurities so that they do not become a problem for the couple. Besides, the pregnant woman gradually changes from a lover to a mother, which can affect the climate of the relationship. Some will experience insecurities about career and parenting abilities. Despite mutual consent with the partner for a child, these women’s feelings of sacrifice can affect their (sexual) relationship. In this context, confronting these significant lifestyle changes can lead to grief and a sense of loss.

#Sexual positions and emotional investment professional#

Then, dedicating one’s life to a dependent child can be perceived as losing one’s professional identity, freedom, etc. Nowadays, most women have the opportunity to build a career, have a baby and step a while out of the career path. However even if the pregnancy was planned and desired by both, it is normal to have ambivalent feelings.

The partner’s support and attention can strongly impact the woman’s feelings about pregnancy. Many other factors influence a woman’s attitude towards pregnancy and sexuality also: her current life situation, sense of security, relationships with others, self-acceptance, reaction to the hormonal changes of pregnancy and last but not least, her expectations of motherhood. A planned pregnancy that both partners desire can increase the enjoyment of pregnancy and, consequently, sexuality during this time. Some women experience pregnancy as a loss of identity and perceive their bodies as no longer their own, while others thoroughly enjoy this period. A woman’s thoughts and feelings about pregnancy, her acceptance of it and consequently her attitude towards sexuality in pregnancy are very much influenced by how the couple decided to become pregnant. KeywordsĪll couples enter partnership and pregnancy with their shared experiences, behaviours, dreams. This chapter is part of ‘Midwifery and Sexuality’, a Springer Nature open-access textbook for midwives and related healthcare professionals. The chapter focusses on the couple, not just the woman. Moreover, also partners deal with pregnancy and change differently, depending on their personal experiences, earlier quality of this relationship, upbringing and cultural context. In the last trimester of pregnancy, the quality of orgasm can change from clonic contractions to tonic (and can therefore be painful). The accumulating effect of sexual arousal and the existing hypercongestion can, on the other hand, cause pain in the breasts and the vulvar area and therefore diminish arousal. The pregnancy’s physiology can, on the one hand, facilitate sexual arousal.

Both pregnancy and sexual arousal are characterised by hypercongestion of the internal and external genital organs and the breasts. Sexual desire can change in different directions and is influenced by physical and psychological factors like fear (for miscarriage, pre-term birth, etc.), changing appearance and sense of self. It will start with the physical changes and continue with psychological issues. This chapter will describe the wide range of elements influencing sexuality and intimacy in pregnancy, according to the pregnancy trimesters. Especially during the first pregnancy, many changes occur in the woman and in the relationship with her partner.