Health Update: Post-natal blues

SEXUAL intercourse in the months after having a baby may be a greater problem than doctors think, according to researchers from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. They found that three months after childbirth, 40 per cent of women still had problems, including discomfort during intercourse and difficulty reaching orgasm.

Many women do not return to 'pre-pregnancy levels of sexual experience' even one year after giving birth, say researchers in the Archives of Family Medicine, published by the American Medical Association. Instead they establish 'new sexual baselines in keeping with their additional responsibilities'.