Let's Talk About Sex, Baby

What will it be like after you’ve had your baby? Will your “bits” still work? We tackle all your questions.

- Lori Cohen

Everyone is focused on ensuring you have a safe delivery, but if you chose to have a vaginal delivery (particularly if it was an assisted birth with the use of forceps or vacuum extraction), there’s a chance you came out of the experience a bit worse for wear. What can you expect from the postpartum period (the time starting one hour after delivery of the placenta to six weeks after the birth)?

According to a summary of numerous studies scrutinised by Medscape, 53 percent of women reported sexual problems including difficult or painful intercourse and decreased libido in the immediate postpartum period, and have been shown to peak at three months after delivery. And The New England Journal of Medicine concluded that 22 percent of new mothers report perineal pain.

LET THE HEALING BEGIN

“Many women experience damage to the perineum (the area of skin and muscle between the vaginal opening and the anus) during delivery,” says clinical sexologist Professor Elna McIntosh. This can be from a natural tear or episiotomy (a medical cut to the perineum to assist birth). You can do the following to speed up recovery, she says:

Apply ice packs for the first 24 hours after delivery to reduce swelling, and then switch to daily sitz baths with warm water.

After bathing, let your perineum air-dry and, if possible, expose it to sunlight.

Only wear soft cotton underwear. If the seams chafe, wear them inside out. Some women avoid wearing underwear altogether, and wear skirts rather than pants.

If you experience pain from urine splashing against the perineum, try using a squirt bottle filled with warm water and pouring it over the vulva while urinating, or you could urinate in the shower. Some find that a light application of zinc oxide helps, but don’t apply anything unless specifically told to do so by your doctor or midwife.