It is a known fact that the childbirth takes a toll on the mother’s body, the exact expanse of time needed to fully heal prior to having intercourse again remains vague. In “Is There a Right Time for Sex After Childbirth?” Serene Gordon of Healthcare Reporter explained that each mother should technically have her own “right” time to recover. As postpartum experience varies from person to person, someone who had a difficult delivery would need to rest longer than someone with a less complicated one would. Currently, the most accepted recommendation doctors give their patients is to wait 6 weeks before having sex again.
Supposedly, this period coincides with the post-delivery check-up needed between 3-weeks and 12-weeks. The noted reasons as to why women refrain from having intercourse again are due to exhaustion from taking care of the new child, fear of pain or discomfort, and post-partum body self-consciousness. While exhaustion remains the top argument against resuming the couple’s sex life, ensuring that the uterine lining is fully healed and efficient communication between partners are important as well. No one truly knows a mother’s body better than herself so it is best for the mother to heal at her own pace and resume intimacy when she feels she is ready, regardless of the rest period expanding past or under 6 weeks.
As this is a public online article, a wider audience is able learn more about postpartum sexual safety. This article brought to light the importance of postpartum recovery is to a safer sex-life and health. It was significant how little was known on why the 6-week recommended recovery time came to be, yet many follow it to their own situations. It is best for all patients to be aware of this segment of sex education to better lower their risks of diseases and complications. This relates to sexual education by how it is a required period for the mother to rest prior to having intercourse again. The purpose of sex education is to ensure that both parties are undergoing sex safely and leaving it just as safely. In terms of female sex organs, it is typical for there to be bleeding within the uterus during childbirth, meaning that the uterine lining is damaged. This has to properly heal before having sex to lower the risks of tears and infections.
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While fewer amounts of students begin parenthood during college, there are those who have started families during their time at universities. This article’s readers would more likely consider that they might need to wait longer than the doctor’s recommended 6-weeks recovery period, especially if the mother needs more time to heal her uterine lining, to rest from the exhaustion of parenthood with exams approaching, or to discuss with her partner about her postpartum body image. As an important decision to resuming sexual intimacy, many issues should be considered for the health of the new family. Also, college students may spread this information to people in their lives who are open to discussing safer decisions in regards to sex.
After reading this article, I was curious to know how the well-known 6-week recovery period came to be, and how it was not questioned by many doctors, for it was readily accepted into their postpartum care guidelines. Since every mother has a different experience with childbirth and with postpartum, a “one-size-fits-all” rest time did not make much sense to me. It should be a range specified for each other. If a mother had a complicated delivery, such as having C-section, and emergency surgery, then she should consider waiting longer than 6 weeks before resuming her sex life.
This allows her body to heal, as well as having time to taking care of her child. For someone who has a less complicated delivery should consider waiting at least 6-weeks, or until she feels confident in having safe sex again. In terms of parenthood exhaustion and body-consciousness, couples should communicate their thoughts and solutions to have a better shift into their new lives as a healthy family. Considering how surveys were taken to collect reasons why mother refrain from sex postpartum, I felt the study did not disclose further details of the participants to show how many mothers feel the same on the topic.
Bibliography
- Gordon, S. (2019, February 14). Is There a Right Time for Sex After Childbirth? Retrieved February 17, 2019, from https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2019-02-14/is-there-a-right-time-for-sex-after-childbirth
