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"Turn the lights down low" : women's experiences of intimacy after childbirth : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
Women navigate many social changes when they become mothers, often including
considerable changes to intimate and sexual relationships. While maternal health care attends
to various physical and emotional changes for women, it has emerged that many women
experience dissatisfaction in their intimate relationships after birth. A literature review
revealed that while many studies had investigated the sexual experiences of women
postpartum, none had looked at the effect of dominant discourses within Western popular
culture. This research aimed to explore how women make sense of changes to their intimate
relationships following childbirth. Norms and assumptions about the effects of childbirth on
women’s bodies and the implications of change to intimate relationships were examined. Six
women between the ages of 25-45 who had given birth to a child in the last 10 years were
interviewed in a conversational style about their experiences. A feminist post-structuralist
discourse analysis was applied, attending to the dominant discourses and gendered power
relations that enabled and limited positions for women. The analysis showed that normative
discourse shaped not only how women experienced their bodies and intimate relationships,
but every aspect of their lives including pregnancy, labour, mothering, unpaid and paid work.
Furthermore, women were positioned through discourse and a gender binary as responsible
for the household and childcare, as well as responsible for regulating and managing the
intimate relationship. Ultimately the overriding experience of women in this research was that
body changes and changes in the sexual relationship (overwhelmingly one of dissatisfaction)
postpartum resulted in feelings of responsibility and guilt on the women’s behalf for failing
the expectations of femininity and the obligations of neoliberalism. Instances of resistance
and challenge to the dominant discourses were expressed, as were alternative discourses. This
research provides an understanding of the effects of dominant discourses and the power
relations implicit in them on women’s lived realities. This piece of research provides
knowledge around contextual factors impacting on postpartum sexual health and postpartum
body image. It may also provide the platform from which both professionals and women can
discuss female bodies, including genitalia, and female sexuality in less 'troublesome' ways.