after baby is born how long is it before you can sex
It's common to have a low libido in the weeks or even months after having a baby. In the first six weeks after delivery, you're likely to be exhausted, and possibly sore and overwhelmed. Your body needs time to heal. And you're dealing with the 24/7 demands of caring for a newborn. You should wait until any bleeding after the birth (lochia) has stopped, which should be by about three weeks after your baby's birth. This is because the wound left in your uterus (womb) by the placenta coming out is still healing. If you have sex before the bleeding has stopped, you may get an infection (NCT 2012) . It's common to have a low libido in the weeks or even months after having a baby. In the first six weeks after delivery, you're likely to be exhausted, and possibly sore and overwhelmed. Your body needs time to heal. If you both feel ready to have sex before your postnatal check at about six weeks after the birth, you can go ahead if you want to (Macdonald and Brown 2013) . Introduction. Getting busy after your baby is born can be a challenge! Babies are sex killers, says psychiatrist Gail Saltz, MD, at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Caring for a newborn takes a lot of time, and can sap you of energy you used to devote to your partner. A small number of couples start having sex within the first month after the birth, but about half wait until at least six weeks, as do most women who have had a tear or episiotomy (Woranitat and Taneepanichskul, 2007) . It's common to have a low libido in the weeks or even months after having a baby. In the first six weeks after delivery, you're likely to be exhausted, and possibly sore and overwhelmed. I recommend waiting six weeks before having intercourse mainly because that's when most women go in for their postpartum exam. At that time your healthcare provider will make sure that your vagina and perineum have healed enough for sex to be safe and pleasurable. If you have stitches, though – either from a c-section, a perineal tear or an episiotomy – it's likely that your caregiver will advise you to wait until after your six-week postpartum visit. After you get your caregiver's go-ahead, it's okay to start having sex again as soon as you feel ready and not before. If you're not ready to resume your sex life yet, give yourself a break. You need time to adjust both physically and emotionally to the demands of caring for a baby, and there's no need to rush into having sex until you feel ready. In time, sex can be as satisfying as it was before your baby came along.
About six weeks 