Postpartum

Postpartum recovery does not run on a schedule. The six week checkup is a health check, not a starting gun, and most people are ready later than that, some considerably later. Wanting nothing to do with sex while a baby is on you all day is a hormonal reality rather than a personal failing. This page is built for whatever week you are actually in, and nothing on it assumes you should be further along than you are.

You will find recovery care for the parts that took the impact, comfort products for the dryness that comes with breastfeeding, and pleasure products chosen for being gentle and external rather than powerful. Perineal and breast compresses, wash bottles and warming pads cover the healing weeks. Body-safe lubricants and intimate moisturizers address the tissue changes that lower estrogen brings. Depth-limiting rings let penetration stop exactly where you want it. Pelvic massagers and graduated dilator sets handle the muscle work, and small external vibrators are here for reconnecting with your own body first, before anyone else is involved.

A good lubricant is the single most useful thing on this page and the usual place to start. If penetration hurts at a particular depth, depth-limiting rings solve that specific problem. Everything here is body-safe and non-porous. Two things worth knowing: a moisturizer works on the tissue itself a few times a week while a lubricant reduces friction during sex, and plenty of people use both. Skip anything warming, cooling, tingling or flavored, since postpartum tissue is more sensitive than usual. Oil-based products break down latex condoms, and pregnancy is possible three weeks after birth even while breastfeeding. Nothing here treats pain. If sex hurts, if you are bleeding, or if things are not improving, that is worth taking to a doctor or a pelvic floor physical therapist. We are not clinicians.