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The Wait Time Between An Episiotomy & Oral Sex

by Tessa Shull

At some point after giving birth, you may start to think about being intimate with your partner. And, if this occurs before you get the OK from your doctor, you may wonder how to get intimate without penetration. Although it seems more common to hear about women who have a low sex drive after birth and little desire to get it on, there are actually a lot of women who feel the opposite. In which case, “How soon can I have oral sex after an episiotomy?” is a question that may come to mind.

Because most doctors will tell you to hold off on intercourse until your follow up appointment, you’ll generally have to wait four to six weeks before even considering intercourse. According to Baby Center, your risk for pain and infection is high while you're still losing lochia and especially while healing from an episiotomy. If you've had an episiotomy, it may take longer for you to even feel comfortable having sex. Even if the six weeks has passed, you'll want to avoid messing with the incision site from your episiotomy. Waiting a little longer to resume intercourse or easing back into sex using safer, more enjoyable sex positions after birth are a much better option for those postpartum with an episiotomy.

Luckily, you don't have to throw orgasm or intimacy out completely during the waiting period. Trimester Talk shared that you can have an orgasm as soon as you feel healed. In even better news, that's only a few days postpartum for most women, according to Baby Center. Unless your doctor's said otherwise or you have concerns or complications occurring, external stimulation from oral sex is an option around a week after birth for women with an episiotomy or not.

What's most important to focus on when considering intimacy after birth, however, is your physical and mental comfort. If you really want to get back into bed with your partner as soon as possible, it's a good idea to consider the oral sex route (externally only) to keep things going until you've gotten approval from your doctor to have sex again. As long as you refrain from penetration of the vagina or anus and steer clear of the perineum, oral sex is a great way to get intimate shortly after giving birth.