Pregnancy loss is a common experience, affecting about 1 in 4 women, and often brings challenges to mental and relational health, including increased anxiety, depression, and relationship struggles. Sexual well-being after a loss can be impacted, leading to issues such as reduced sexual satisfaction, decreased desire, and increased distress.
Most previous studies focused on recurrent early pregnancy losses and often looked at just one partner, overlooking how pregnancy loss affects both members of a couple. Therefore, a new study aimed to fill that gap by examining how sexual satisfaction, desire, and distress evolve for both partners over the first four months after a pregnancy loss. The researchers also looked at how grief after the loss, known as perinatal grief, might impact these changes.
They hypothesized that sexual satisfaction and desire would improve over time, while distress and grief would lessen. They also suspected that intense grief could slow these positive changes. The study considered factors like gestational age and previous losses to see if these affected sexual well-being differently. This research aims to help couples and clinicians understand what to expect in terms of sexual health following a pregnancy loss and how grief might influence this journey.
For this study, couples from various countries (Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand) who had suffered a pregnancy loss in the past four months were recruited online and through clinics. To qualify, both partners needed to be over 18, fluent in English, in a relationship for over a year, and able to complete online surveys. Pregnancy losses had to be involuntary, and couples could not be undergoing fertility treatment during the study.
Data collection took place between July 2021 and August 2023. Couples completed a baseline survey, followed by three more surveys at monthly intervals. Out of 405 couples initially screened, 132 met all eligibility requirements and completed all follow-up surveys. Retention rates were high, although couples who became pregnant or started fertility treatments during the study were excluded from further analysis.
The study measured the three previously mentioned areas of sexual well-being: satisfaction, desire, and distress through validated surveys. Perinatal grief was also assessed. The research team used statistical models to account for variations in participants’ survey timing and aimed to understand how grief impacted these areas of sexual wellness.
Findings were analyzed using multilevel models, which adjusted for differences in response times and accounted for the unique dynamics between partners, including whether they were the pregnant partner or the non-pregnant partner when the loss occurred.
Most of the participants were in their early 30s, had been together for nearly eight years, and experienced pregnancy loss before 16 weeks. Results indicated that sexual satisfaction in both partners increased slightly over four months, though changes varied among couples. Between 10 and 25 weeks post-loss, both partners generally reported an increase in sexual satisfaction. Interestingly, sexual desire remained stable, with no notable changes in either partner. This may be because couples in committed relationships often maintain strong relational bonds and support, which may protect against decreases in desire.
Contrary to predictions, sexual distress only decreased for partners who were not pregnant, showing a minor decline over the study period. Grief, however, decreased for both partners, with pregnant individuals showing more substantial declines. Interestingly, the study found no evidence that initial grief levels predicted changes in sexual satisfaction, desire, or distress over time.
In summary, while sexual satisfaction improved somewhat after pregnancy loss, sexual desire was unaffected, and only non-pregnant partners saw declines in sexual distress. However, both partners experienced reduced grief, suggesting that while loss impacted sexual well-being, some positive shifts in relationship satisfaction may have emerged over time.
The findings suggest that grief alone doesn’t fully account for changes in sexual well-being; instead, relational factors like partner support and empathy may be critical in recovery. For practitioners, these insights highlight the importance of addressing sexual health openly with couples after a pregnancy loss to help improve both grief management and relational quality over time.
For more information on this topic, please read these publications from The Journal of Sexual Medicine:
Addressing the sexual difficulties of pregnancy loss for couples in clinical care and research
References:
Allsop, D. B., Péloquin, K., Cockwell, H., & Rosen, N. O. (2024). Trajectories of sexual well-being and links with grief after a recent pregnancy loss: A dyadic longitudinal study. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 21(10), 940–950. https://doi.org/10.1093/jsxmed/qdae088
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