So when can I have post partum sex REALLY?

[KLM99]

I know you always hear that you should wait 6 weeks to have sex after having a baby, but surely not all women magically heal at 6 weeks. What do I really have to look out for - no more bleeding? Just actually feeling like having sex?

[BanditaMamacita]

My mw says it really isn't necessary to wait that long after a non=traumatic birth. She says 12-14 days if ur feeling up to it. That's also what the handout my hospital gives out says. I've never mentioned that to dh... after birth, i'm totally off the hook for at least 6 weeks. lol. But if you're feeling up to it and don't have stitches or anything....

[Astraia]

If you don't have stitches, wait until you feel comfortable to start again.

If you do have stitches, wait until they come out and things feel healed up again!

[clicksab]

I waited until I wasn't bleeding. And I was actually ready to go for it, and that was about 2 1/2 weeks PP! Every woman is different, and I suspect every postpartum experience is different. Something tells me I might want to take the full 6 weeks with kid #2!

[fwlady]

I was told the typical 6 wk thing, after a csection. My mother and father were telling me at 4 wks that I needed to give my BF sex. WTH? I had a CSECTION! I was just having yellow lochia at that point. We went ahead, when we went to our MILs house, because I didn't feel right doing that with my BF in my parent's house since they usually say to wait until marriage, and we should have been married by then. And, I made him use a condom because my fear of INFECTION. I think it was totally stupid. No one should be pressuring a section momma to do anything that makes her feel worse than she already does! And, to boot, my BF wasn't the one putting the heat on me.

With #2, I had stitches in the other place. I am sure we waited the 6 wks.

With #5, I had a slight PPH that I was able to care for at home. But, then I bled for 9 wks. So, he had to do without for that time. I just figured that if there is enough space for things to be open for bleeding/lochia, then it isn't worth the risk. There are other ways to be intimate.

But, my friend has a higher libido than I do, and she said it wasn't but a week after her csections, and she had 3. So, I would go with how you feel. Kymberli

[mamamoon89]

My midwife said it was okay after bleeding stopped...if you had stitches then until those heal. I was still bleeding a little when I resumed sex at 2 1/2 weeks postpartum.

[nashvillemidwife]

When your bleeding has stopped, trauma has healed, you are mentally ready, and you have addressed family planning/birth control.

[Gentle~Mommy :)]

I told my husband the doctor said 6 months lol, but I was good to go after 6 weeks.

[etsdtm99]

i had stitches and bled 4-5 weeks with both kids.. i was not ready before 5 weeks but i've heard of other other women (no stitches) being ready at 2-3 weeks.

[mummy2jess]

with all three of mine we have had sex roughly three weeks after the birth. I have never had any tears or stiches so obviously might have been longer if I had. I have never been told 6 weeks - just whenever I feel ready.

sophie

[Gentle~Mommy :)]

sophie, at first I read that as 'you had rough sex' LOLOLOLOL

[S.Elise]

I hate to admit this, and it was not an issue of safety/medical advice/prudery/birth trauma or feeling like a mother is sexually "damaged goods" (I HATE that attitude), etc. but just to offer another perspective, I had absolutely no interest in anything sexual until I stopped breastfeeding 7 months later. And low sex drive is NOT typical for me. Thankfully my husband has the patience and understanding of a saint. Literally, he's going straight to heaven.

Which is all just to say that we are all SO different and that is fine!

[JennTheMomma]

When you feel ready, but don't let someone pressure you into it. I can't remember when we resumed after Hunter. I had a 2nd degree tear that still hurt long past 6 weeks, and I had PPD. Hunter also had bad colic. Sex was not on my mind. Luckily DH understood how hard it was for me. Everything is good now though, pregnant with #2 and still keeping up the intimatcy.

[cottonwood]

"no more bleeding? Just actually feeling like having sex?"

Yes, and yes. Actually, the first one is not set in stone -- the idea is that if you're done bleeding you're likely internally healed so that there is less risk of infection in introducing an object (and that goes for any object) into your vagina. But in reality presence or absence of discharge and desire for sex don't always match up, and the risk does seem to be pretty low. My midwife says that in her practice she hasn't seen a correlation with intercourse begun when there was still lochia. And anecdotally, I know a *lot* of people who have resumed having intercourse while still bleeding (including myself) and had no problem.

[GAjenn]

I wish

Originally Posted by Gentle~Mommy :)

I told my husband the doctor said 6 months lol, but I was good to go after 6 weeks.

I wish they said 6 months! Vaginal dryness due to breastfeeding/ going from mommy to sex kitten not working really set me back for a while. We found our stride soon enough and now I preg again!

[Tizzy]

After my C/S I was good to go two weeks later.
After a few tears and stiches with my second birth, it was closer to 4 weeks because the stitches didn't heal very quickly.

[gcgirl]

It took me about six months before I felt like I could ( I only had a 2nd degree tear, but it seemed to take forever to heal), but I still didn't really want to because bfing drained all my hormones (at least that's how it felt). But that's just me. You have to find your own stride.

[Honey693]

All my doctor said was "If you have sex before your six week check use a condom". I think we waited almost two months though.

[thefreckledmama]

We've always waited until there was little or no lochia, which for me is about 2 weeks. Each time I felt around down there a little before we did anything, to make sure it wasn't going to start hurting when we did.

[Belle]

With Dd#1 we waited until six weeks. It was horrible. I had stitches and it hurt for more than a year to have sex.

After Dd2's birth, I had an intact perineum. I stopped bleeding after two weeks and we had sex after three. It didn't hurt at all. I was pleasantly surprised.