When To Have Sex After Giving Birth?

New moms urged to immediately use birth control to avoid unplanned pregnancies.

- Boitumelo Matshaba

THE woman is at her most fragile point after giving birth. She needs to recover physically from the hours of labour and her stitches need to heal. Her energy levels are also low and need to be rejuvenated. Anxiety about having a new or first baby might also overwhelm the mom. Some women might even feel insecure about their bodies after the birth of a child and worry that their sexual relationship with their partner might take a dip.

EXHAUSTED AND WEAK

With all this said, how soon can newmoms have sex? “After giving birth I was very exhausted and weak, labour had taken its toll on me. All that seemed to have disappeared when I laid my eyes on my son Sihle,” says first-time mom Ntsako Ndwandwa (25).

She says her family and friends warned her about having sex too soon after birth.

“It is apparently easy to fall pregnant after giving birth,” she says.