A lot of women and their partners, want to know when it is okay to resume intercourse after having a baby and generally speaking a good rule of thumb is 4-6 weeks after delivery and this time period exists for a few different reasons. For one it's definitely not good to have intercourse, especially with penetration, for the first couple of weeks after delivery because the body is still prone to hemorrhage and uterine infection and the cervix is still closing down. So 2-3 weeks is the bare minimum amount of time that you should wait, but then after that there are other reasons to wait. If the woman had a C-section and the incision is still healing. Of course this is abdominal, but it can still be painful during intercourse. Or if the woman had an episiotomy or a tear and has stitches in the vaginal area, then those need time to heal. And so again this is another good reason to wait until you've gone to your postpartum visit and the doctors examined everything and the given you the green light. And at the very least this gives women confidence that when they do resume intercourse they're not going to pop a stitch and everything is going to be okay. Another thing to think about is contraception. The doctor will talk with you about options for contraception at your postpartum visit and you can get something reliable on board from that point going forward before you resume intercourse to decrease the likelihood of getting pregnant and having babies on top of each other. There actually is risk associated with having babies too close together, especially if you've had a C-section. Your body just needs time to heal and research has show the ideal birth spacing is 2.5-3 year from the birth on one baby to the birth of the next, and so contraception is something that you should think about. A lot of women think if they're breastfeeding then that's good enough, and studies have shown that in the first few weeks following delivery, maybe even up to a couple of months, getting pregnant is not likely because the hormones that support lactation do suppress ovulation, but it's not a super sure form of contraception and so it's better to have something else on board too, and to get that in place before you resume intercourse. Another factor to consider is vaginal dryness. After the delivery of a baby estrogen levels drop and this affects natural lubrication, and nursing also affects it too. So it may persist for as long as you decide to breastfeed your baby. So make sure you have some lubricant available when you decide to resume intercourse. Now just because enough time has passed that you could have intercourse, it doesn't necessarily mean that that's when you need to start. It really depends on how you feel, and during the first few weeks even months after having a baby, you're normal if you're exhausted and tired and your libido just isn't what it used to be, and you know it can be very circumstantial. For one you might have body image issues as you're trying to shed that pregnancy weight and you may just be really tired or may not be able to find time. So these are some issues to consider too, and both partners should be understanding and respectful of the things that their other partner is experiencing. If after resuming intercourse you have concerns about pain or bleeding or anything you experienced during or after, talk with your doctor and they will be able to determine if it was normal or if further investigation is warranted. If you have more questions in the future for me feel free to ask them on our Facebook page at facebook.com/intermountainmoms and recommend us to your friends and family to.
