Do husbands lose interest when women become mothers?

One in every three women believe that their husbands "lose interest" in them and don't find them attractive any more once they give birth, says a British study.

Almost half of women surveyed accused their husbands of "forgetting" who they were since they became a mother, said the research by the website Netmums.

On being asked which words their male partner would use to describe them, just 12 percent of mothers said "feminine", while an overwhelming majority -- 69 percent -- simply said "tired".

The survey of British mothers between 18 years and late 50s paints a "less than rosy" picture of parenthood and its effect on the relationship between wives and husbands, said the Daily Mail.

One third of women felt they were simply seen as a mother and no longer as a lover.

Only two percent said their male partner thought of them as "sensual", while at least one in five women said they were regarded as "sexless".

Many young mothers said they had lost their self-confidence. They felt "uninterested" in their appearance or fashion and beauty.

A worrying 40 percent said they had "forgotten who they were" before giving birth, a phenomenon the researchers dubbed "mumnesia".

"Mum and woman shouldn't exist separately -- every mum is both and they should be celebrated and nurtured. 'Me time' is hard but not impossible to find and a little goes a long way in helping us keep hold of the real me," said Siobhan Freegard, co-founder of Netmums.