Mumsnet: Ask the experts

find the bestsend a reviewthe big issuesask the expertsteach your child totalkweb guidenoticeboardtell a friendshare parenting tipshome

Childbirth and postnatal: Kate Figes

Click here to read previous questions to Kate. Ask a question here.

I am expecting a baby and will be delivering sometime the beginning of December. I am trying to find out what physical implications there might be for my sex life after a vaginal birth.

Kate Figes is one of the most original and provocative voices on parenting. Author of the acclaimed "Life After Birth", a comprehensive look at the physical, emotional, psychological and social changes triggered by childbirth. She is a journalist, writing regularly for the Guardian and the Times and books editor at You magazine (Mail on Sunday). Mother of two daughters aged 11 and 7, she is happy to answer queries on childbirth and postnatal issues. Ask a question.

Inevitably having a baby can affect ones sex life in the short term. Delivering a baby is hard work and can cause physical trauma to the vagina so it is highly unlikely that you will want sex immediately after birth. New mothers are usually so wrapped up with their newborns needs and so tired from interrupted sleep that sex drive is usually the first thing to go and the last thing to come back. So if you dont want sex, dont worry about it, your partner needs to be understanding (there's a whole chapter on sex in my book Life After Birth) and when your sex life does return it is usually far more powerful, rich and deep because you have had a baby. Women are often that much more open and uninhibited about their bodies... good luck.

If you wish to ask a question, please enter it here. We will try to answer as many as possible, but obviously not every question will be answered. If your question isn't answered here, why not post it on talk and see if one of the other mumsnet members can help.