Sex After C-section: How Long Should You Wait?

A cesarean is an incision made above the pubic mons that cuts open the tissue, muscles, and uterus. After the baby is removed from the uterus, the tissue is disinfected and sewn up again. Doctors literally tear it open during a cesarean section because it promotes the healing process of the tissue. As the scar heals, scar tissue forms, which eventually becomes a cesarean scar.

Sex after cesarean scar has healed?

Many women feel pain when standing up, especially in the first few days after the caesarean section, or they notice a burning or itching of the scar. The healing process usually takes ten to fourteen days if there are no complications. However, the scar is very sensitive in the first few weeks, which is why physical exertion should be avoided. Above all, the skin around the scar should not be strained, because it can tear more quickly due to its weak connective tissue.

Many couples therefore wait until their first sex after childbirth until the caesarean scar has healed. However, this is not a must! There is no general permission as to when you and your partner can have sex again. It depends much more on your personal, physical feeling. However, you should start slowly with a caesarean section because of the scar and feel your way forward – which certainly also corresponds to your feeling.

Sex after caesarean section: The flow of the week

In addition to the scar healing process, the postpartum flow of a new mother also begins after the birth . In the case of caesarean section patients, however, this is often not very strong because the uterus was scraped out when the baby was born.

However, the flow of the week does not mean that you as a woman are not allowed to have sex – here, too, it depends on your feelings and your desire for physical closeness. So if you want to sleep with your partner during the weekly flow, it would be a nice opportunity to bathe or shower together – to cleanse the intimate area – and thus gradually get closer. However, you should definitely use a condom during sexual intercourse due to the high risk of infection  .

The breastfeeding hormone prolactin influences sex after caesarean section

So how quickly you and your partner have sex after the caesarean section is entirely up to you and is different for every couple – some have intercourse again after ten days, others only after weeks. It is most important that you do not put yourself under pressure! Because nature intended that a new mother should primarily only take care of her baby or use all her energy for it.

Many mothers feel very exhausted after giving birth and suffer from a permanent lack of sleep – there is often little motivation for sexual activities. However, a woman cannot do anything about that, because breastfeeding releases the hormone prolactin, which influences libido. Because sex is primarily there for reproduction, but this was only fulfilled in the first place – which is why many women don’t feel too much pleasure due to hormones. Prolactin can also lead to vaginal dryness, which would also be a physical anti-sex signal. Ultimately, however, these are just biological facts that occur to a different extent in every woman.

Listen to your body!

Sex after caesarean section – you alone decide when and how this first approach will be with you! There are physical cues just described to look out for. Most importantly, you and your partner are open about everything and give each other all the time your body needs.