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WARNING: The following information contains sexual references and descriptions of sexual activity, you may not want your children to read some topics in this section. |
The woman's body and resuming your sexual relationship
The woman's body
Pregnancy and giving birth is a life-changing event, one of the most significant in your life, and in the weeks and months after the birth a woman's sexuality and how she feels about her body, as well as how both partners sexually relate to each other, may also involve considerable adjustments. There is a vast range of individual differences between when couples feel physically and emotionally ready to resume their sexual relationship. However, as part of considering this, most couples have common questions about when the woman's body has recovered sufficiently for her to engage in sexual intercourse (particularly vaginal penetration).
There are many myths surrounding the resumption of sex after childbirth. In some countries these are based on cultural and/or religious beliefs. From a purely physical perspective, it is thought to be 'safe' to resume normal sexual activity any time after the woman's bleeding has completely stopped. This is usually some time from around 3 to 6 weeks after the birth. The aim of caregivers not recommending sexual intercourse while the bleeding continues, is because the site where the placenta was attached is still healing, and theoretically vaginal penetration may possibly increase the risk for infection of the woman's uterus.
Bearing this in mind, we are aware of couples who have engaged in sexual intercourse within a week or two of the birth (while the woman was still bleeding). At present there is no research that supports or rejects any increased risk for infection (unless the man has a sexually transmitted infection).