Carmela,
Here are a few references from a paper I did a few years ago. La Leche League
International publishes a pamphlet on the subject (I am one of the authors).
Women's reactions to breastfeeding vary greatly--some women do report that
breastfeeding is sexually stimulating. There also seem to be a lot of women who report
that being a nursing mother makes them completely uninterested in sex.
My guess is that there are a lot of contributing factors. I wonder particularly about
the role of fatigue. The study of Kuwaiti women listed below is particularly intriguing in this respect
as I believe that the traditional postpartum recovery time in that culture is much longer than in
English speaking societies. In the US time to recover from childbirth is practically non-existent.
You might want to look at work by Kathleen Kendall-Tackett on survivors of childhood sexual abuse--
that seems to be an issue for some women in terms of difficulty with breastfeeding and also with feeling
sexually aroused by breastfeeding.
The association between breasts and sexuality seems particularly strong in English speaking cultures and
some women in these cultures see breastfeeding as sexually perverse behavior--akin to child abuse.
I'm curious about your findings about Spanish culture

        Abraham, S., Dermer, A. (1995). Psychological and sexual changes after the cessation of breastfeeding. Obstetrics and
Gynecology, 85, 641.
        Al Bustan, M. A., El Tomi, N. F., Faiwalla, M. F. & Manav, V. (1995). Maternal sexuality during pregnancy and after childbirth
in Muslim Kuwaiti women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 24, 207-215.
        Alder, E. M., Cook, A., Davidson, D., West, C. & Bancroft, J. (1986). Homones, mood and sexuality in lactating women.
British Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 74-79.
        Alteneder, R. R. & Hartzell, D. (1997). Addressing couples sexuality concerns during the childbearing period: Use of the
PLISSIT model. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 26, 651-658.
        Anderson-Hunt, M. (with Dennerstein, L., Hatton, L., Hunt, J., Mahony, J., Sargeant, D. & Stephenson, N.) (1996).
Hormones and female sexuality: Developing a method for research. In S. Zeidenstein & K. Moore (Eds.), Learning About
Sexuality: A Practical Beginning (pp. 253-259). New York: The Population Council.
        Avery, M. D., Duckett, L., & Frantzich, C. R. (2000). The experience of sexuality during breastfeeding among primiparous
women. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 25, 227-237.
        Berthiaume, M., David, H., Saucier, J.-F. & Borgeat, F. (1996). Correlates of gender role orientation during pregnancy and
the postpartum. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 35, 781-801.
        Bitzer, J. & Alder, J. (2000). Sexuality during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Journal of Sex Education and
Therapy, 25, 49-59.
        Dennerstein, L. (1996). Female sexuality, the menstrual cycle, and the pill. In S. Zeidenstein & K. Moore (Eds.), Learning
About Sexuality: A Practical Beginning (pp. 253-259). New York: The Population Council.
        Dettwyler, K. A. (1995). Beauty and the breast: The cultural context of breastfeeding in the United States. In P.
Stuart-Macadam & K. A. Dettwyler (Eds.), Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives (167-215). New York: Aldine de
Gruyter.
        Forster, C., Abraham, S., Taylor, A., & Llewellyn-Jones, D. (1994). Psychological and sexual changes after the cessation
of breastfeeding. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 84, 872-876.
        Glazener, C. M. A. (1997). Sexual function after childbirth: Women’s experiences, persistent morbidity and lack of
professional recognition. British Journal of Obstetric Gynaecology, 103, 330-335.
        Hyde, J. S. & DeLamater, J. D. (1996). Sexuality during pregnancy and the year postpartum. Journal of Sex Research, 33,
143-152.
        Massil, H. (1995). Postpartum sexual function--what is the norm? Sexual and Marital Therapy, 10, 263.
        Masters, W. H. & Johnson, V. E. (1966). Human Sexual Response. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.
        Newton, N. (1973). Interrelationships between sexual responsiveness, birth, and breast feeding. In J. Zurbin & J. Money
(Eds.), Contemporary Sexual Behavior: Critical Issues in the 1970s (pp. 77-98). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University
Press.
        Potts, M. & Short, R. (1999). Ever since Adam and Eve: The evolution of human sexuality. Cambridge UK: Cambridge
University Press.
        Rossi, A. S. (1973). Maternalism, sexuality, and the new feminism. In J. Zurbin & J. Money (Eds.), Contemporary Sexual
Behavior: Critical Issues in the 1970s  (pp. 145-173). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
        von Sydow, K. (1999). Sexuality during pregnancy and after childbirth: A metacontent analysis of 59 studies. Journal of
Psychosomatic Research, 47, 27-49.


--
Esther Schiedel
[log in to unmask]

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html