Exploring the Meaning of Sexuality, the Body, and Identity After Birth Using Feminist Poststructuralism

Abstract

Objective: To explore how sexual health in the postpartum period is influenced by and negotiated through relations of power.

Design: Discourse analysis informed by feminist poststructuralism.

Setting: Telephone interviews conducted in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Participants: Eleven women who gave birth in the last 1 to 6 months and lived in Nova Scotia.

Methods: We recruited participants through social media and invited them to share their experiences after birth through individual interviews. Using Baxter's approach to discourse analysis, we focused on identifying how participants created meaning within their experiences.

Results: We identified two main themes: Negotiating Change and Renegotiating Identity. Participants defined their bodies in new ways that could be sexual and/or nonsexual and created new meaning(s) of their identities as mothers and as sexual beings after birth.

Conclusion: The meaning of the body and identity are intricately connected and significantly affect how sexual health is experienced by women during the first 6 months after birth. As such, it is critical that care providers prioritize, acknowledge, and validate how women in the postpartum period choose to define their sexuality, identity, and bodies to ensure the provision of person-centered care.

Keywords: birth; body image; discourse analysis; postpartum; qualitative; sexual health; sexuality.