How soon after birthing a baby – with midwives and doctors poking about your internal organs and a new human emerging from your vagina – would you want someone else’s hands all over your body?
As soon as possible, according to Declan Donnelly. The TV presenter reportedly told fellow Britain’s Got Talent host, Stephen Mulhern, that “you’ve got to get back on the game straight away” when asked about his sex life since becoming a dad.
In an interview with the Sun, Mulhern said: “I was asking him questions: ‘Have you changed the nappy yet? How long before you get back to a bit of nookie?’ Do you know what he said to that? As soon as possible – you’ve got to get back on the game straight away!”
Donnelly, 43, married Ali Astall in 2015 and they welcomes their first daughter, Isla, in September last year.
The presenter said in an interview with the Evening Standard soon after that becoming a dad was “the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I’m loving it”.
So, how quickly should a couple really be getting busy in the bedroom after delivering another human into the world (providing they’re also trying to find time for two minutes of sleep as well)?
Official advice from the NHS says: “There are no rules about when to start having sex again after you have given birth.”
But the health service does caveat this by saying a mother will likely be sore (or more, if for example, you’ve suffered any complications of labour like a third-degree tear).
“If sex hurts it won’t be pleasurable,” says the NHS. “Hormonal changes after birth can make your vagina feel drier than usual.”
Chances are you might also be feeling a bit knackered, with both halves of a couple experiencing sleepless nights – so don’t put too much pressure on yourself.
“It might be some time before you want to have sex,” the NHS says. “Until then, both of you can carry on being loving and close in other ways.”