C-sections do not ‘protect sex life’

WOMEN who believe having a Caesarean birth will help protect their sex life after they have their baby should think again, a study revealed yesterday.

There is a widespread belief among the public and some doctors that women who have a surgical birth will experience fewer sexual problems than those who give birth naturally.

But a study, published in the journal Birth, has found that overall there is no difference in sexual health between the two groups.

The assumption that protecting sexual function is among the benefits of a surgical birth is challenged in the study by Brunel University and St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust in London.

The researchers surveyed almost 500 first-time mothers in Britain, asking them about any sexual problems before pregnancy and in the first three months and six months after giving birth.

Of the women questioned, 50% had natural births, 25% had a forceps or ventouse-assisted delivery and 25% had a Caesarean.

Three months after birth, the researchers found that women who had a Caesarean were slightly less likely to experience some sexual health problems, but only pain was found to be significantly less common.

But six months after birth, the differences between Caesarean birth and vaginal delivery were much reduced, or even reversed.

The researchers said that the apparent protective effects of having a Caesarean on sexual health were largely limited to improving problems with painful sex shortly after birth.