Sex after child delivery 

Having sex after child delivery is allowed after 6 weeks, so your body has the proper chance to recover. If your body hasn’t recovered, you need to wait longer. Your body needs to have a recovery of at least 12 weeks after a scissor delivery or when a tear has occurred. You are not allowed to have sex before that. The same counts if your vulva is sensitive. You’re allowed to have sex after your pregnancy when your vagina doesn’t hurt anymore. You’re also very fertile after your pregnancy, so use a condom when you’re going to have sex. You are not allowed to use birth control because of the remaining hormonal levels and the hormones that the birth control will give you.  

 

If you’re looking for pelvic floor exercises or go to the exercises page. If you’re looking for products for your pelvis and go to the Pelvic Store. 

 

Waiting with sex after giving birth 

It’s best to wait with having sex after you’ve delivered so your body can recover. Which means that stitches need to heal, that you shouldn’t lose blood anymore, and that your cervix has been closed. This way it will be more pleasant for you. You are at risk of opening up the wounds and experiencing more pain when you’re going to have sex too quick after your delivery. When your vagina doesn’t feel sensitive or painful anymore, it’s possible for you to have sex again. Maybe you’ve had too little sex during your pregnancy so now you can’t wait to get at it again, but please wait until your body has recovered so you won’t get worse issues. 

 

When can you have sex after child delivery? 

The doctor’s advice states that you officially can have sex 6 weeks after you’ve delivered. This is only applicable if you’ve had childbirth without a scissor delivery and/or a tear. When you’ve had a scissor delivery, the recovery time is set on 12 weeks. It takes a good while before the tear has recovered. You often need to wait an extra 2 weeks to make sure that your body has been given enough rest.  

Your body can recover better when you do post-pregnancy pelvic exercises. This helps you get a healthy and firm pelvis.  

 

Being afraid of having sex after giving birth

A lot of women are scared of having sex after their child delivery because of the many factors that can be caused. The delivery already is an impacting experience and this can leave you exhausted. Getting out of bed can already be a huge struggle, let alone having sex. You can also be scared of having sex, because it could be painful for your vagina. It’s recommended to invest in a dildo set. This set consists out of smaller and bigger dildos. You can start practicing with inserting something in your vagina at your pace, and you can find out what feels right for you. You can determine which size to use. Take a look at the 4-piece dildo set from Intermate Rose. 

 

It’s absolutely normal to experience anxiety around having sex after your delivery. This anxiety can cause extra tension in the pelvic floor muscles. This will make the vagina feel more tight because the blood flow can’t properly reach the walls of the vagina, which will lead to the absence of moisture in the vagina canal. Your breasts can also feel sensitive because of the breastfeeding, which will make it feel less enjoyable for you to move your body during sex. Besides being scared to experience a lot of pain, you can also be scared of being very fertile after the pregnancy. You might not want to become pregnant again on such a short notice. You aren’t allowed to use birth control yet, which can make you anxious of becoming pregnant again. Or maybe it even makes you insecure because you just gave birth and you don’t feel comfortable in your own body. I’ve listed down some reasons of anxiety below, and with every reason I have found the answer for you so you can enjoy having sex again.  

 

8 reasons why you don’t want to have sex after the birth: 

1. The risk of getting an infection.  
2. Exhaustion. 
3. Having a dry vagina.  
4. Having a recovering vagina.  
5. Increased fertility. 
6. Having a baby. 
7. Insecurity. 
8. The sex is protected. 

1. 1. The risk of getting an infection 
      You can be at risk of getting an infection if you’re going to have sex when your body hasn’t fully recovered yet. Next to the fact that you might be having stitches, your vagina can still be very sore. It went through a lot. Having sex when your wounds haven’t healed yet can cause the healthy bacteria in your vagina to be pushed into your wounds. This causes you to have an infection. You can get a vaginal infection like the candida version. This is another reason to wait with having sex after your child delivery. If you still experience blood loss from the wound in your cervix, an infection can appear around the wound. 

2. 2. Exhaustion 
      The body can be very exhausted after the delivery. It can be that your body has recovered, but you can still not want to have sex. That’s very logical. You could have issues with a weakened pelvic floor and this can cause you to have a tired sensation in your pelvic floor when you’re having sex.  

3. 3. Having a dry vagina 
      I’ve mentioned before that your vagina is very sore and sensitive after the delivery of your child. Having sex when your vagina is dry isn’t only painful for your pelvic floor muscles, but it’s also unpleasant for yourself. When your pelvic floor muscles are hurting, they contract together so your vagina will become more narrow. This causes having sex to be difficult. Your vagina is very vulnerable after the delivery, so having sex can feel different than what you’re used to. The moisture in your vagina can be absent, which makes sex feel more unpleasant to you. However, lubrication will be a miraculous remedy. Your vagina will be less dried up and less painful when you use lubrication. Don’t be afraid to start using lubrication. The discomfort will eventually go away by itself. 

4. 4. Having a recovering vagina 
      Your pelvis is a bit softer and more flexible during your delivery so that you can go through it with more ease. The delivery can cause the walls of your vagina to be stretched open which causes the discomfort when you have sex after giving birth. This is incredibly annoying to the woman, but also to the man. You can get the vagina walls back into shape when you do a few pelvic floor exercises, so that you both will be able to enjoy having sex again.

      In the article exercises for pelvic floor muscles after delivery are a few examples of the exercises that can help your vagina getting back in shape. 

5. 5. Increased fertility 
      You can most likely have sex 6 weeks after giving birth, but are you fertile yet? You’re fertile again after 4 weeks of your delivery, which also means that you can (unfortunately) get your period again. Your period can last longer if you’re breastfeeding, it also depends on how long you’ve been breastfeeding for. You need to make sure you use protection because of your fertility and menstruation, unless you want to have another child this soon. If you don’t want to have another child yet, it’s smart to use condoms. You have to deal with additional hormones during childbirth, and you’ll notice that the hormonal levels will still be high after delivery. That’s why you also aren’t allowed to use birth control, because birth control contains a lot of hormones as well.  

6. 6. Having a baby 
      It can also be the case that you’d find it awkward to have sex now you’ve become a mother and your child is at home. You’re finally done with your pregnancy and your partner can’t wait to get back at it again. Your body has been fully recovered and you’re able to have sex again. But there’s just.. one issue; you feel uncomfortable. It’s logical to think it’s weird in the beginning, because your child is there too. But you don’t have to think about it like that. You’re simply human with desires. It’s absolutely normal to just have sex. Your baby will most likely be asleep in another room. Your baby probably won’t even notice a thing. 

7. 7. Insecurity 
      You’ve just gone through childbirth and your body has to recover. That’s why you don’t feel comfortable in your body which causes you to avoid having sex. It’s logical that you feel insecure about your body during this period. It’s common for women that they already feel insecure about themselves, even without being pregnant. And now here you are, recovering from childbirth and your man wants to have sex. You’d rather not see it happening because you find it uncomfortable. Don’t be afraid to say no when you really don’t want it, but mainly try not to hate yourself for how your body feels. Your body is in recovery and you’re beautiful the way you are. Don’t feel insecure, but feel proud of yourself. You’ve just gone through child birth, and that’s incredibly impressive. Very well done!  

8. 8. The sex is protected 
      It’s smart to use a condom the first few weeks after the delivery. You aren’t allowed to use birth control because of the amount of hormones that you will add to your body. Your body already still has a lot of hormones because of the pregnancy, and your body needs to recover in order to be able to release those hormones. You can take the minipill (progestogen-only pill or POP) after 3 weeks of your delivery, and you can take the normal birth control after 6 weeks of your delivery. Are you bottle-feeding instead of breastfeeding? Then you can start taking birth control after 3 weeks of your delivery, but you can also take the minipill if you are too scared to go straight to the birth control, or if your doc advised you something different.  

And lastly, are you looking for more information? 

Hopefully this information was useful to you! If you’re still looking for some more information, feel free to take another look around on the website. It’s filled with in-depth information, tips a webshop and also exercises. I still have a lot of articles with lots of information about other symptoms and issues. Feel free to click on the blue words to take you straight to the right page.