Page 45 - April Issue
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on the way
Not tonight Hormone Connection
honey...
Childbirth often involves recovery from
Becoming a mother is the most either genitalial delivery or C-section
wonderful experience for any women. and can also result in genitalial dryness
Having your little bundle of joy can be due to reduced levels of oestrogen.
can make you feel on top of the world Moreover, you can experience fatigue,
but childbirth can be highly exhaustive for stress and sleep deprivation. All these
any woman.To top it off, most women are major libido killers for women.
face low libido during pregnancy as well But don’t underestimate the power of
as after the baby has been born. hormone, reminds Guillaume Safah,
CEO in The Medical Anti-Ageing Clinic
in Dubai Healthcare City. “Hormones mother, baby & child April 2011
are produced in extremely tiny
amounts, in nanograms which are one
billionth of a gram and in pictograms
which are one trillionth of a gram,
yet any fluctuation or imbalance can
have a huge effect on our physical,
mental and sexual health,” he says.
Specifically during pregnancy, Safah
says a woman’s body is going through
major changes. “Hormone levels
usually fluctuate especially with stress,
and most women are stressed when
pregnant,” he says and the glands
which produce hormones (the adrenals,
pituitary, gonads, and hypothalamus)
will produce too little or too much
hormones, including sex hormones,
therefore affecting sexual desire
and libido. This decline, he notes, is
commonly encountered during the
last trimester because the hormonal
change is at its peak, and it usually
continues for six months after birth.
Physical
The first trimester of pregnancy is
often a time when libido decreases
because of fatigue, moods, nausea,
sore breasts, and heightened anxieties
or fears about miscarriage. During
the second trimester, women are said
to feel more excited and energetic,
with an increase in libido as physical
discomforts subside but by the third
trimester, physical aches and obstacles
can again become overwhelming,
making intimacy more difficult and
less frequent. According to a cross-
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