Why Breastfeeding Moms Want More Sex

People joke about it all the time: Sex goes down once the babies start popping out. Whether it's totally true or not, it’s completely understandable that our sex drives take a hit. But new study published by Springer Science+Business Media has found that in new moms in the Philippines tend to spend more time getting it on than they did before pregnancy. The study proved that breastfeeding moms have more sex in order to save their relationships with the father.

In turn, mothers feel secure that their newly born children will receive the necessary love and support from the fathers. Bottom line, it's a relationship survival technique, and a pretty interesting one considering the Philippines is known for its low divorce rate.

Michelle Escasa-Dorne of the University of Colorado surveyed 260 women from the Philippines. She found that women who were still actively breastfeeding and resumed their periods were more sexually active than others, leading to the suggestion that women experience an increase in sexual activity post-pregnancy than pre. More sex meant higher relationship satisfaction. She explained:

"Even though a breastfeeding woman may not be sexually proactive, she may respond favorably when her partner initiates sexual activity. Maintaining the relationship may be important if one's current partner is beneficial to the partnership and to the tasks of parenting."

On the other hand, western societies were found to do the exact opposite. Instead of devoting more time to their partners, new moms in western societies spent more time tending to the needs of their newly born children than they did to their partners. In turn, less intercourse, lower relationship satisfaction.

It's also worth noting that cultural norms may have influenced some of the participants' responses. Escasa-Dorne wonders if childless women weren't completely open about their sex lives as those who have kids.

Either way, it just goes to show , there's no right amount of sex you "should" be having at any given time. Women who have complicated relationships probably aren't going to focus on their sex lives at this time. Different things work for different people (and couples), and naturally, we don't all have the same priorities.

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