New Parent Tips on Sex and intimacy: understanding changes to your sexual wellbeing following the birth of your baby are published. Please share with your parents.

Having a baby is a major change in any couple’s relationship, with many parents feeling less happy in their relationship after the birth of a baby. This isn’t surprising, as a new baby means less sleep, extra work and less time for each other.

We know that this can lead to changes in a couple’s sex life, with one third of couples continuing to experience sexual difficulties up to four years after birth. Sex and intimacy is one of the issues that parents argue about after they have a new baby, but it is also one of the areas that gets talked about the least.

These parent top tips bring together a collection of evidence-based tips that new parents can put into practice today.

sexual_wellbeingNew Good Practice Points for Health Visitors about Talking to parents about their sexual wellbeing have been published for our Associate members.

Despite sexual health being a priority within the Healthy Child Programme, many health visitors, from student to senior health visitor level, report difficulties in initiating discussions about sex with new parents (Glazener, 1997).
As much as professionals can find sexuality hard to talk about, so can parents – but that is not because they don’t think it is important.

Please note that this new GPP is available to iHV members only.