This is the first in a three part series on how to deal with painful sex.

Nearly every woman feels pain at some point, in some circumstance in her life, during intercourse. We’ve all let out an ‘Ouch!’, delivered with an accusing glare, if our partners thrust a little too deeply, hitting the cervix.

That’s easily fixed by changing position and shallower thrusting.

Constant, persistent pain is something completely different.

Pay attention to it. Never ignore pain anywhere in your body.

I’m one of the many women who associate pain with sex: it’s better now but intercourse will never be as comfortable as it used to be.

For me, it’s a boring age-related thing. But there are many other reasons why sex can hurt.

It’s ironic that the product of sex – children – threatens the very thing that brought them into the world: sex.

It’s not just sleep deprivation that can turn a sexually charged couple into who-can-be-bothered’s in under a week.

Children put more strain on you, your relationship and your sex life than you ever dreamed possible.

And then there was the lockdown and home schooling.

“It’s relentless – I had no idea it was going to be like this.”

“If I’d known, I don’t think I’d have had one.”

“What have we done? What happened to our lives?”

This is what new parents really say after having a baby – add a few hundred choice expletives if you’ve had one shortly before lockdown.