Sex after baby: new study offers surprising finding about new fathers
HALIFAX — A new Canadian study that explores the sex lives of first-time parents has produced a surprising finding that could serve as a caution to well-meaning fathers.
The one-time survey of 255 first-time parents with infants, published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, found that new mothers reported lower sexual desire when their partner expressed more empathy — a finding that turns conventional wisdom on its head.
“We had results that are all in line with empathy being good for both people, and then we have this one little finding that wasn’t consistent,” said the study’s lead author, Halifax-based psychologist Natalie Rosen. “I would like to replicate this in other studies before drawing grand conclusions.”
Rosen speculated that some fathers are perhaps so intent on helping their wives deal with the challenges of parenthood that they assume avoiding sex is the best policy.