What is the cause of dryness and pain during sex after childbirth?

Postpartum is an important period of time for women's physical recovery. At this time, some women will feel dry and painful in their vagina when they resume intercourse. This is because the level of estrogen in the blood is very low during breastfeeding, which affects the secretion of vaginal mucus.

The first worry: Will sex hurt?

The fact is: time, tenderness, and new attempts can help.

During childbirth, the vagina is where the baby passes through, which used to be thrilling and painful. Obviously, these are experiences you are not likely to forget any time soon. Therefore, you will still feel some discomfort in the first 6 weeks after delivery, especially when your husband's genitals are likely to press on the uterus which has not yet fully recovered during intimacy. But here's some relief for those of you who are too nervous: Only about 10 percent of couples actually feel like being intimate in the first six weeks after giving birth.

In addition, doctors do not recommend that new parents start their own world too early. It is best to wait until after 42 days. But don't worry too much. Adopting some appropriate positions can also avoid the pain caused by the penis entering too deep.

If you had an episiotomy during childbirth or a vaginal tear, it usually only takes about 6 weeks to fully recover. Afterwards, you won't feel much different during intimacy than you did before delivery. In addition, most new mothers will have a particularly complicated mentality when they have sex for the first time after giving birth - a feeling of fear and novelty, full of "sexual" interest and role conflict ("I am a mother"). This is easy to understand because mothers are always paying attention to their children. What to do? Don't worry, time, tenderness and new attempts will help you relax and bring back the desire and wonderful feeling.

The second concern: vaginal dryness.

The truth is: there are many ways to help.

When you are breastfeeding, the level of estrogen in your blood is very low, which does affect the secretion of vaginal mucus - the secretion in the vagina is greatly reduced, but it does not disappear. This means that you and your partner will need to be more patient, prepare more, and prolong foreplay until you feel wet before moving on. Sometimes these efforts don't work for some breastfeeding mothers, so some lubricants can help.

At the same time, mothers need to know that breastfeeding is not a means of contraception. Even within four hours between feedings, blood levels of prolactin may drop to a level low enough to prevent ovulation. Therefore, other contraceptive measures should be taken, such as using condoms.