Sex After Childbirth
When is it safe to have sex after giving birth?
by the Babble Staff
November 30, 2006
Sex After Childbirth
THE BABBLE TAKE
One British website provides the potentially scarring mental image of vaginal birth as "akin to a small explosion." On that note, there are some obvious physical challenges to sex after childbirth. Things will take time to heal, especially if you had an episiotomy — and if you're curious about the specifics of that topic, there's an episiotomy-related horror story in the links below. Doctors traditionally advised waiting until your postnatal checkup, six weeks after childbirth, before even thinking about sex. But more recently, some say that you can start earlier, on the off chance that you feel ready. Many say the physical side is just half the story: post-pregnancy hormonal changes affect your sex drive, as do sleepless nights. Many women just aren't that interested in sex during the first months after childbirth. Once you start doing it again, let Britney Spears be a cautionary tale. Unless you want back-to-back pregnancies, contraceptives might be a good idea.
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Netdoctor
"Please don't expect that everything will instantly return to normal. Men are particularly likely to believe this; a lot of young blokes think that they'll be able to have intercourse as soon as their partner gets home from hospital. But that just isn't true. You see, childbirth is a pretty traumatic process for a woman. Having a baby pass through her vagina is almost like having a small explosion go off inside her."
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ABC.Net.Au
"I wasn't shocked when I had a difficult birth — twenty-four hours of labour, including four hours of pushing, an episiotomy and a ventouse extraction (where a suction cap [is] fitted to the baby's head to help deliver it).The shock came after the event, when I summoned up the courage to use a mirror to look at the damage."
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BabyCenter ®
"With a new baby to care for round the clock, sex may seem like a fond but distant memory. [. . .] If you had perineal tearing or stitches from an episiotomy, you may feel like you'll never want to have sex again. Try not to worry too much about it and give yourself a break. [. . .] But there's no need to rush into having sex until you feel ready. Rest assured, you and your partner will be ready to rumble again soon."
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iVillage
"Women should be given the freedom to chose when they wish to resume sex after birth. . . .It takes approximately six weeks for the uterus to return to 'normal' size after vaginal birth . [. . .] What we actually see in practice, however, is that some women are emotionally and physically ready for intercourse much earlier. Williams Obstetrics, a respected text, states: 'Following an uncomplicated delivery, a six-week abstinence from intercourse makes little sense. It can be safely resumed in as little as three weeks or when comfort can be maintained.'"
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Pregnancy Today
"Even once the uterine bleeding has ceased, other physical changes such as sore breasts or vaginal dryness and tenderness from the delivery can also dampen a new mom's sex drive. 'Fatigue is [also] a tremendous issue,' Kropp says. 'The common thread that I hear is that sleep is so important that lovemaking can be considered a waste of good sleep time. This is perfectly understandable, as none of us do well with little or no sleep for long.'"
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