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MummyPages EXPERT
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Sex after pregnancy: what are the risks of having sex before my six week post-natal check up?
The reason that most doctors and other health care providers recommend that you abstain from sex for six weeks after child birth is that the damage to the cervix, uterus and vagina caused by childbirth put you at increased risk of infection. There is also a wound where the placenta has come away from the lining of the uterus, and there are some very good reasons to avoid introducing bacteria to the vagina. That means no sex, no tampons and no foreign objects in the vagina.
If you’ve had an episiotomy or have rectal or vaginal tearing, then you might even need to wait longer than the recommended six weeks for the wounds to heal. That’s because any strain may cause the wound to reopen, causing pain and possibly requiring more surgical intervention.
If you have not had any complications and you are healing well then the change in lochia (the bloody discharge you have after childbirth) from red to brown is usually a sign that healing is near complete, but that too can last anything from four to six weeks.
In order to be sure that it’s safe to have sex again you will need to have an internal exam and that’s why it’s usually recommended that you wait until after your six week post-natal check up, when your doctor or caregiver should be able to tell you if everything is okay.
User Answers:
Re: Sex after pregnancy: what are the risks of having sex before my six week post-natal check up?
NEW RTE SHOW: BABY BODIES
Zoogon Productions are making a new television show for RTE2 called Mairead Farrell: Honestly Speaking… Baby Bodies, which aims to talk openly about how Irish women really feel about their pregnant and post-baby body – the good and the bad. We are currently still looking for a range of contributors to take part:
- Do you love everything about your pregnant body or post-baby body? Do you embrace all the bodily changes whole-heartedly?
- Have you (or did you) put on more weight than you wanted to during pregnancy? Or have you struggled with obesity before or after pregnancy?
- Are you (or were you) pregnant while still a teenager?
- Are you exercising a lot while pregnant? Or after childbirth to regain your figure?
- Has pregnancy or having a baby dramatically affected your sex life?
- Do you have a fear of pregnancy and childbirth? Or did a traumatic experience lead to a fear of future pregnancy?
- Are you giving birth (hospital or home birth) in the next few weeks and may consider the birth being filmed?
Finally – do you have an interesting story to tell relating to your ‘baby body’ experience that we haven’t mentioned, but you would like to tell us about?
We hope that the documentary will be a vehicle to show mothers out there that they're not the only one experiencing body issues during pregnancy and after, or indeed inform mothers-to-be of what to expect. Please get in touch by emailing amy@zoogon.tv or call to chat on 0044-2890323600 and ask for Amy or Aislinn. All correspondence will be in the strictest confidence.
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akearns | September 14, 2011 11:50 AM |
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The information contained on MummyPages is not a substitute for examination, diagnosis or treatment by a qualified medical professional. If in doubt, always consult your doctor.
