time she needed to recover from the effects of giving birth, begin to get testy after several months have gone by.   Although these new mothers may have

spark back into your sex life. Get a grandparent to baby-sit (theyll love it) or hire a baby sitter and go out with your husband for a romantic evening. If the baby is a light sleeper, or if you have other distractions in the house, rent a motel room. But dont just let sex slide.   Menopause: The production of a womans sex hormones declines during menopause, causing certain side effects that can affect a womans sex life. But menopause doesnt have to mean an end to sex. In fact, many women find they have a stronger desire for sex after menopause because they no longer have to worry about becoming pregnant. Plus, menopause is a time when women and their husbands have more pri- vacy because their kids have grown up and moved out.   You may have to make some adjustments for menopause, such as using a lubricant, but you can still have a satisfactory sex life. For more sug- gestions, read Chapter 3 and Chapter 17.   Lately, much talk (not to mention many books and magazine articles) has focused on the effects of hormones on women who lose their desire for sex. Some people say to take estrogen, which besides any effect it may have on the libido, can help decrease the thinning of the vaginas walls if applied in cream form. Others suggest that postmenopausal women take testosterone, the male hormone that women produce in small quantities during their child- bearing years, but the production of which decreases after menopause.   Im not one to jump on bandwagons, particularly if these therapies have side effects that doctors may later find are quite serious. Taking one of these hor- mones in pill form can help some womens libidos, but the same is true of taking a placebo (a sugar pill). At this point, no absolute proof exists that taking hor- mones can safely alleviate lowered sexual desire in postmenopausal women. Medical science makes breakthroughs every day, so you can certainly check with your gynecologist, but make sure that you listen very carefully to the risks when your doctor discusses this subject. 310 Part IV: Having a Healthy Sex Life     Because plenty of older women enjoy sex a great deal without taking any extra hormones, most older women who suffer from a lack of desire do so, in my opinion, from some psychological reason, which means a sex therapist can probably help them.   Im most certainly not saying that a woman should expect to have lowered desire or do nothing about the condition if it occurs. You absolutely should speak with your doctor and consult with a sex therapist if you have no med-