How Long Should Women Wait After Giving Birth Before Getting Sexually Active Again

I remember eavesdropping on my mum’s conversation with a friend of hers when I was much younger. They were sharing birth stories and both of them agreed it was the most painful and life changing thing they had ever encountered.

They talked about how the size of the baby might make the midwives decide to cut the vagina for easier passage. The picture that information left in my mind made me fear I would never be ready for the encounter. Imagine being stuck with sanitary pads for close to 30days at a go.

I was told by the doctor to wait for at least 6weeks after my child so you’d understand my horror when a woman shared how her husband slept with her six days after giving birth and it sparked a lot of debate. This coupled with other thoughts in my head roused my curiosity to know if there was a uniform time we all have to adhere to as women before our body feels ready.

I hope the men read this too because it is important to understand your wife’s body.

This article that I found on the women'shealthmagazine site shed light on the issue.

After you give birth to a baby, your vagina has been through a war. It’s been stretched, pulled, and pushed to the limit—and maybe even torn or cut.

That’s why most doctors in the U.S. advise new moms to wait six weeks after their babies are born to get busy again. While six weeks is a looongtime (1,008 hours, but who’s counting?), trust us when we say that your vagina will welcome the vacation.

Of course, not everyone waits until six weeks to take a test run—and not everyone knocks boots right at the six-week mark. But other than gossiping with your friends, it’s difficult to know what falls into the “normal” category, right? That is, until now.

Scientists from Brazil’s University of Sao Paulo realized there was an important gap in scientific research and quizzed more than 800 new moms on their sexual habits after having a baby. The results might surprise you.

According to the study, which was published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, the average woman waits 2.1 months to get busy again after having a baby. Researchers tracked women at various post-partum points and found that up to 17 percent of couples were having sex again before the six week mark and 62 percent were having sex again in the sixth week. Meanwhile, 22 percent of women waited more than three months to have sex, while all of the women were doing it again by the seventh month.

Did you have a totally different experience? Please share in the comment box below.

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