For those who are looking forward to resuming sexual activity after having a baby, there are often questions surrounding what's safe when it comes to intimacy. As most doctors will tell you, you need to wait until you get the OK from your doctor — about four to six weeks postpartum — before resuming any penetrative sexual activity. But the wait is often longer for women who've had an episiotomy. That, however, sometimes leaves couples curious about other avenues, asking questions like, "how soon can I get fingered after an episiotomy?"
Unfortunately, when your doctor tells you not to have sex until your follow up appointment, Baby Med that this means no penetration of any kind. This means no fingers, toys, or anything else should enter the vagina. According to Mayo Clinic, the cervix needs to close, postpartum bleeding should stop completely, and any tears or repaired lacerations from your episiotomy need to be healed before penetration. Otherwise, you run the risk of getting an infection or aggravating the stitches from your episiotomy. So getting fingered is out until at least four to six weeks after approval from your doctor.
Additionally, Baby Centre noted that many women who've had an episiotomy wait longer than six weeks before having sex again. This is because the perineum, where your stitches are, is sore for a longer amount of time. Luckily, this may be a good time to take advantage of getting fingered instead of sex.
Once you've gotten the approval from your doctor to resume sex, you may still be sore or not immediately comfortable picking up right where you left off. And that's OK. Instead, you can take advantage of toys, fingering, and external stimulation to ease back into sex. This gives you more control and also puts less of a strain on the soreness and healing area of the episiotomy. Additionally, when you are ready to resume sex, there are several sex positions following a difficult delivery you can try to help you get comfortable with sex again. Remember — this is a process and you shouldn't feel pressured into anything.
