Here’s How Long It Takes for Your Vagina to Go Back to Normal After Having a Baby

Dr. Pari was featured as a guest contributor in the article below, originally posted for Glamour Health by Korin Miller.

Having a baby is no joke—it usually involves hours of labor and then suddenly you’re responsible for a little human being. And then there’s the fact that, in many cases, this baby actually came out of your vagina.

That can’t be easy on your ladybits, and it’s not. So how long does it take for your vagina to get back to normal? It might be a while.

“After a woman has a baby, it takes about six weeks for a woman’s vagina to heal from a delivery,” says board-certified ob-gyn Pari Ghodsi, M.D. During that time, you can be bleeding and spotting pretty heavily—at least at first.

If you tore something during childbirth (which does happen), the tears are repaired after the baby comes out but you can expect it to be about a month and a half until the stitches to completely dissolve and for things to heal up nicely down there, she says.

Of course, having your vagina heal and having it feel normal again are two completely different things. Dr. Ghodsi admits that sex might feel different, at least at first: “The vagina may feel sore from the birthing process and from injury, and it also will feel dry at first.” That’s especially true if you’re breast-feeding, which leads to less vaginal lubrication, she says. (She recommends new moms use a water-based lube when they start having sex again, which is typically OK six weeks after giving birth.)

Things can also feel looser down there post-childbirth, but it tends to gradually go back to normal. Luckily, Dr. Ghodsi says Kegel exercises can help tighten things up again quickly.

But, above all, it’s important give yourself—and your vagina—a break after giving birth. “It is important for a woman to realize that things take time,” Dr. Ghodsi says. “It won’t feel the same at first, but, with time, things typically go back to normal.”