The Right Time to Have Sex and Tips for Making Love After the Wife Gives Birth

Again, no waiting time is required. But Mayo Clinic report that most healthcare providers advise waiting four to six weeks.

“Usually at the six-week postpartum visit, you will be examined. Start using contraception, and given the green light to have sex again regardless of the type of labor you have had,” explains Dr. Ross.

But four to six weeks is just a rule of thumb for how long to wait. Amy Hill Fife, a pelvic health physical therapist in private practice in Grand Junction, Colorado, uses six to eight weeks as the standard. She says the wait can sometimes be 12 weeks or more as the vulvovaginal tissue heals.

The timescale is highly dependent on how the delivery goes and the extent of the network damage.

“If an ‘uncomplicated’ delivery with minimal vaginal tearing, no episiotomy, and a stage 2 (pushing phase) labor of about two hours, then six to eight weeks may be a good time,” says Fife.

The wait may be longer, according to the Mayo Clinic, if you have a vaginal tear that needs to be repaired surgically.

According to the experience of Dr. Ross, most women aren’t ready to jump right into the typical six-week mark, especially after a vaginal delivery. In fact, you always put your own feelings about any type of sexual contact ahead of the ob-gyn’s approval, says Fife.

“The new mom ultimately has to be the one to decide when she’s ready to have sex,” says Fife. In addition to the healing of vaginal and perineal tissues, important considerations about when to have sex after delivery are the level of support a person giving birth receives as a new mother, their level of fatigue, and their level of desire to have sex.

“Many women who breastfeed experience pain, nipple bleeding, mastitis, or uncomfortable breast tissue. None of these increase the desire for sex,” adds Fife.

If four weeks or more seems like a long time not to have intimacy, remember that cuddling, kissing, petting, and oral sex have no waiting period after delivery, as long as you feel ready and comfortable with them.

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