Erotic Feelings During Breastfeeding: The Effects Education and Experience Have on a Woman's Perception

Abstract

Some women experience discomfort related to sexual feelings during breastfeeding which can lead to premature termination of breastfeeding. It was theorized that erotic feelings during breastfeeding could result from women interpreting a normal, pleasurable, experience as "sexual." An Implicit Association Test (IAT) was developed to measure implicit anxiety with sexual aspects of breastfeeding, and the IAT D, a number quantifying implicit discomfort with the sexual aspects of breastfeeding, was correlated with women's experiences. It was found that having knowledge that sexual feelings are common during breastfeeding was predictive of reporting explicit comfort with breastfeeding, t(314)=3.09, p=0.002, but was not predictive of implicit comfort, measured by the IAT, t(313)=-0.169, p=0.44. It was found that women who breastfed longer have more implicit and explicit comfort with breastfeeding. It was also found that self-reports of high pleasure during breastfeeding were significantly correlated with implicit discomfort, r(1)=-0.14, p=0.008, as were reports of comfort with breastfeeding publically, r(320)=-0.259, p<0.001.