Life
How Breastfeeding Affects Your Boobs During Sex
Some women are aching to resume their sex life after having a baby, while others want to hold off as long as possible. As you might imagine, there are several hormonal and physiological factors at play here — and many emotional ones, too. If a mother is nursing, she’s also dealing with additional changes to breasts that can impact postpartum sex. Intercourse for a nursing mother is not necessarily better or worse than pre-baby sex; it’s just most likely going to be different. There might even be a few embarrassing things that happen to your boobs during sex while breastfeeding as well. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, and if you understand why these things happen to your boobs you might be less bashful (and even less apologetic) about it in bed.
For starters, a breastfeeding mother has a couple of things happening in the hormone department that impacts her breasts and how she feels about sex namely: oxytocin, prolactin, and estrogen. To start, moms get a surge of oxytocin, or as it’s affectionately dubbed the “love hormone,” while breastfeeding. According to Baby Center, oxytocin is released to help with the let down of milk and bonding with a baby. But it can also help mom bond with her partner too.
Kelly Mom also noted that a nursing mother gets an increase in prolactin because without it, the breast milk would not be able to be produced by the body. Prolactin blocks a breastfeeding mother from ovulating, which can sometimes suppress a mother’s libido, as explained on Belly Belly. Prolactin blocking ovulation in breastfeeding mothers, means estrogen levels will take a dive, often resulting low sex drive.
No matter where a breastfeeding mother falls on the sexual desire spectrum, being aware of the things that might happen during arousal and intercourse will go a long way towards accepting — and maybe even laughing off— the seemingly awkward moments. Here are five embarrassing things that can happen to your boobs during sex if you’re breastfeeding.
1You May Leak Or Squirt Milk During Sex
According to the Child Fun website, nipple stimulation or sexual arousal releases oxytocin — the same hormone released during breastfeeding. Because of this oxytocin surge, during sex some women leak or squirt breast milk if being aroused or experiencing an orgasm. This is nothing to be mortified about, it’s normal. If it bothers you or your partner that much just make sure you have a towel nearby.
2Your Nipples Might Be Really Sensitive
It’s completely normal for your nipples to feel really sensitive or tender in the beginning of breastfeeding because your nipples are just getting used to the sucking, according to La Leche League International (LLLI). Your nipples may also feel sore if you’re having issues with latch or position at some point during your breastfeeding journey. Tender, cracked, or sore nipples will most likely cause a mother to enact an off limits policy on her boobs during sex, and there is no reason to be embarrassed about it.
On the other hand, the increase in nipple sensitivity can cause women to be aroused by nipple stimulation, as explained in an article published in the Journal of Perinatal Education. Some women even report having breast orgasms, which are orgasms achieved without genital stimulation, according to Cosmopolitan.
3You May Lose Sensation Completely
There is a lack of exhaustive medical evidence proving this happens to breastfeeding women, but many women have shared stories about loss of nipple sensation in several online forums. Some nursing mothers say they used to get sexually aroused by their partners stimulating, squeezing, and sucking their breasts and nipples, however during breastfeeding, they can’t seem to feel it at all. This might feel embarrassing if your partner thinks they’re doing something wrong. They’re not, and making sure they understand that may avoid shameful feelings.
4Your Partner May Want To Adult Breastfeed
Some men admitted to being turned on by their wives lactating breasts as reported in a 2014 TIME magazine article. There seems to be an adult breastfeeding fetish emerging in mainstream media, or at least, it’s becoming less taboo to talk about in recent years. Either way, it’s totally OK as long as your partner isn’t taking all your milk dedicated for the baby.
Besides being aroused by leaking breasts, some men admitted in the article to simply being curious as to what breast milk tasted like and asked to suck their wives breasts. Again, neither are shameful desires and if both partners are consensually open to it, there’s nothing to worry about.
5Your Partner May Want Nothing To Do With Your Breasts
Even if you’d like your partner to touch and stimulate your breasts, your partner might feel like they are off limits. It’s true that breasts can be erogenous zones, however, lactating breasts could produce a different vibe for your partner, as reported in the above medical journal. They may return to touching and stimulating them later down the road, or when you’re done breastfeeding.
Your sex life is bound to change post baby, whether you’re breastfeeding or not. There are several new body responses and sensations that could crop up as you rediscover or explore your new sexual self. Some changes could be temporary and align solely with breastfeeding, others may be more permanent. This may be your new normal. Regardless of what changes are experienced, and how long they last, talking to your partner and keeping an open line of communication throughout, will help keep any weird or embarrassing feelings at bay in your postpartum sex life.
