Sex and pregnancy, it's a hot topic. The pregnancy books would have it that when it comes to your sex life, it's a bit all or nothing, and seems to be bound by trimester.
Apparently, if you have even a vague desire to have sex in the first three months you're clearly too hot-to-trot and need a cold shower and a nice cup of tea, and if you don't feel like sex in the second trimester your pregnant mates will be wondering if your fella's developed potentially coma-inducing bad breath or something equally off-putting. Oh, and we all want to have sex in the doggy position between seven and nine months, but not very often.
Ok, so it's not quite that black and white, but it is nearly. Granted, I'm probably a bit of an impressionable type, but I've found the "what to expect in the bedroom" sections of my pregnancy books to read more like an instruction manual, no matter how many times they repeat the phrase "this does not apply to all women and every pregnancy is different".
I'll save the minute detail of my sex life for my regular column, Up The Duff Without A Paddle, and suffice to pass on one crucial sex tip here. What can I say, it landed in my inbox. Here goes...Apparently, pregnant women and post-pregnant women (do they really have sex?) can sometimes struggle in the...erm...becoming moist department, as levels of oestrogen drop during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Far be it from me to suggest that might, understandably, be because most women don't actually feel like having sex after pushing a 7lb baby through their vagina.
Anyway, there are all kinds of slippy and squidgy squirty type products available to help out, but they often contain the kind of chemicals you've worked so hard to eliminate from your beauty routine through the whole pregnancy and childbirth experience.
If you want a little help, but without the chemicals, I bring you Yes, the world's only certified organic lubricant. The PR blurb says this: "Yes is completely safe for pregnant and breast feeding women. Natural and based on plant extracts, Yes is the world's only certified organic range of intimate use lubricants and moisturisers. Yes products say no to concerning ingredients (chemicals and skin irritants), and are hypoallergenic."
Now, you can't tell me I don't share useful stuff with you!
Available in oil-based and water-based varieties. Both formulations are available in bottles of 25ml (£5.39), 75ml (£15.66), 125ml (£22.49), and packs of 6 x 25ml bottles (RRP £26.89). That's a whole lot of lubricated sex.
Available at Holland & Barratt, via the Yes website and in London at Sh!, Whole Foods Market and Fresh & Wild, and through independent retailers across the UK.