GONE OFF SEX NOW I’M PREGNANT

Dear Coleen

I’m a 30-year-old woman and I’m nearly 12 weeks pregnant with my first child.

The pregnancy seems to be going well, but I’m not interested in sex any more and my husband and I used to make love quite a lot.

He still initiates sex, but I’m just never in the mood and actually find it irritating when he wants to do it now.

I can tell that upsets him, though, and he’s confused about why I don’t want to be intimate any more. I wish I did feel like it, but I just don’t! Any advice?

Coleen says

There’s a lot going on in your body right now – changing hormones, tiredness and probably morning sickness. So, it’s not really surprising that sex isn’t top of the agenda. I think it’s different for different women – from my own experience, I had one pregnancy when I felt in the mood a lot, but during the other two, I couldn’t think of anything I wanted less!

This is also your first pregnancy so, on an unconscious level, you might be worried about doing anything that might affect the pregnancy or harm the baby. Why not get some reassurance from your GP or midwife and then talk about it with your husband? There’s also plenty of information online.

You might feel like having sex further into your pregnancy and of course you will at some point get back into the swing of things once the baby is here.

It could be your hubby just needs a bit of reassurance that he’s not the reason you’ve lost interest. This is a new thing for both of you and becoming parents for the first time does take adjusting to on many levels.