Nine months is a long time to not be having sex. But a study from the UK has found that one in six couples abstain throughout their entire pregnancy.
According to the study of 2000 parents, many are worried that having sex will hurt the unborn baby. Others just think it’s wrong to do it when there’s a baby around.
Among those couples that do keeping having sex during pregnancy, most of them have stopped by the sixth month.
But Canberra-based obstetrician and gynaecologist Steve Robson has some reassuring words for parents-to-be. He says in general, intercourse poses no risk to the unborn baby.
“Very, very rarely could there be a situation where it might be a problem, and that’s if there’s some suggestion that the woman’s waters have broken or the placenta is very low and covering the cervix,” Professor Robson tells Mamamia. “But those things are quite uncommon. So if the question is, can a healthy couple with a healthy pregnancy do any harm having intercourse? Absolutely not.”
He says as the pregnancy goes on, the issue is finding a position that works for the mum-to-be.
“A lot of women end up finding that lying on their side is the most comfortable,” he adds.
This is backed up by the UK survey, which found 23 per cent of pregnant couples named the “spoon” as their number one pick, followed by “doggy style”, at 15 per cent, and then “woman on top”, with 14 per cent.