Can I Get Pregnant the First Week After Giving Birth?

Obie Editorial Team

For the first six to eight weeks after giving birth to my first, second, third and fourth children, I did not want ANYTHING to do with sex. After those weeks, sex was still on my crap list as the baby kept me up through the night and I was honestly afraid of getting pregnant again, so I ended up avoiding sex like the plague for the first few months. However, not all women feel that way and some pregnancies, births and post-partum periods are so mild that sex comes up within a few days of giving birth. While most doctors suggest women wait at least six weeks after birth before having intercourse, not all women follow the good old doctor’s suggestion. What happens if you have unprotected sex within the first week of giving birth? Is there a chance you could get pregnant again so soon?

hCG and Pregnancy
The simple answer is yes – you could get pregnant again so soon, but the more complicated answer is probably not. Levels of hCG in the body are still higher than normal and that should prevent pregnancy. With that said, you can get pregnant within days of giving birth.

Back to Back Pregnancies and Maternal/Fetal Health
If you get pregnant immediately after giving birth there are some health risks to take into consideration. First, your body has not yet recovered from the previous pregnancy, so eating right and resting whenever possible is extremely important. If you had a C-section the first time around, you need to be prepared for possible complications due to the fact that the previous surgery is not yet healed. In some cases, stress on the scar tissue can lead to severe complications.

Again, the simple answer is yes – you can get pregnant within one week of giving birth.