Sex and Birth Control

At your postpartum visit, you will be seen by the physician who delivered your baby. You will undergo a vaginal exam and a Pap smear will be performed. Your physician will also discuss birth control options with you.

You should not resume sexual activity until your doctor has cleared you after your postpartum visit. Sexually activity that begins too soon can increase the risk of pelvic infection, cause damage to the vagina, and tear any stitches that were placed at the time of delivery. Also, it is not uncommon for women to bleed up to 4-6 weeks after delivery. Even once you are cleared physically, it takes time for some women to feel emotionally ready to resume having sex. There are many factors that can contribute to a decreased sex drive after delivery—fatigue, hormonal changes, and the sheer stress of having a new baby in the home. This is normal! Once you feel ready to resume having sex, it’s time to think about birth control.

Multiple options are available for contraception. All of the options below are outlined in the sections: Reversible Short-term Birth Control and Reversible Long-Term Birth Control. Some of the most common ones include:

• Oral contraceptive pills (the “birth control pill”)
• Progesterone only pills (the “mini-pill”)
•  Barrier methods such as condoms
•  Depo-Provera injections
•  Mirena IUD
•  Implanon

We offer more permanent surgical options for birth control and sterilization such as:

• Adiana
• Essure
• Bilateral tubal ligation

Please see section: Permanent Methods of Birth Control

Your doctor can also discuss the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM) that can be used for the first six months after birth. This method relies on strict adherence to certain breast-feeding guidelines and is not effective if you are not breast-feeding or only sporadically breast feeding. If you are interested in this, you can find more information at http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/.