Is it true that sex during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage or premature birth?

There is a fear that intimacy during bearing can damage the fetus, provoking either miscarriage or premature birth. We checked how just such fear is.

The issue of sex safety during pregnancy is devoted to publications on medical portals And sites of hospitals, them Interested And visitors to specialized forums. “During orgasm, uterine contractions occur. If the process of bearing a baby proceeds with increased risk, then such cramps, even short -term ones, can cause premature birth or miscarriage, ” - Explain Popular fear on the website of one of the stores with goods for newborns. By another version, sex during pregnancy is especially harmful to women who previously occurred in miscarriage: intimacy “can provoke an increase in uterine tone and termination of pregnancy”. The most dangerous sex called the last four weeks of pregnancy, other - The first two months. In some texts specifiedIt is possible to harm the fetus not only penetrating sex, but "even simple mechanical irritation of the internal genital organs."

Miscarriage called Special expulsion from the body of the embryo or non -viable fetus (at the gestational age of less than 20 weeks or with a mass of up to 500 g). Under premature birth It is understood Birth of a child until the 37th week of pregnancy. According to WHO, before this period, from 4% to 16% of children, depending on the region, are born. About 1 million children annually Dying due to premature births and related complications.

Up to 50% of all miscarriages Related With heavy chromosome anomalies. Infectious diseases in the mother can also lead to this outcome of pregnancy (primarily the Torch viruses - chickenpox, rubella, herpes and cytomegalovirus, as well as a number of other pathogens), diabetes, kidney and heart diseases, lifestyle (smoking, alcohol and drugs), abnormalities of the structure of the woman’s reproductive system, radiation, etc. Usually the exact cause of the miscarriage It remains unknown - doctors simply make sure that gestation products are not left in the mother’s body. Analyzes that help understand the problem offer pairs that have more than three miscarriages in a row.

Regarding the unified theory about why childbirth begins prematurely, in scientists No - As with a miscarriage, in each case it is not always possible to determine what has become a provoking factor. Most often to this outcome Curses Multiple, a break after a previous pregnancy less than six months, disorders of the anatomical structure of the uterus, the cervix or placenta, a number of infectious diseases, diabetes, hypertension, or injuries received by the future mother.

Judging by Recommendations authoritative medical Organizations for a pregnant woman have sex do not imply any binding prohibitions or strict security rules in her position. The only thing to focus on the future mother is to focus on your own comfort. This also applies to the intensity of sexual activity, and the preferred way to interact with the partner, and the choice of suitable pose.

Nevertheless, sex during pregnancy often causes concern among future parents. For example, some women are afraid that uterine contractions that occur during orgasm can lead to the beginning of childbirth ahead of time. Another common prejudice is based on the fact that in sperm Contained prostaglandins - substances that contribute The contractile activity of the uterus helps to ripen the cervix. From this fact, it is often concluded that sexual intimacy can lead to premature birth, but this is not so: the impact of prostaglandins will be effective only if the birth period has come, and they have not yet begun. It is also alarming that the stimulation of the nipples and genitals can cause the release of oxytocin from the pituitary gland, which also provokes uterine contractions.

However, all these fears are at least exaggerated, and at the maximum - groundless. So, there is no data that intimacy can cause a miscarriage in the framework of a normal pregnancy - this is confirmed by such authoritative medical organizations as Clinic Mayo And Cleveland clinic. The doctor may recommend refrain From intimacy, if during pregnancy, severe gynecological bleeding was recorded with the threat of spontaneous interruption (in this case, sex can contribute to a repeat of bleeding and create a risk of miscarriage). At the same time, unhealthy blood discharge after intimacy during pregnancy Counted The norm should not cause fears.

The doctor is also highly likely to recommend abstinence from sex in the event of a placenta - anomalies of its location, in which it partially or completely closes the internal pharynx of the cervix. How indicate Canadian researchers, data on the effect of sex during such a pregnancy on the risk of hypotonic bleeding (that is, what is happening against the background of contractile activity of the uterus) is not enough, but such a recommendation is important and is safety. This is justified by the fact that hypotonic bleeding itself is extremely difficult to stop, and blood loss from the very first minutes is great - in other words, the threat of not only miscarriage or premature births, but also the death of the woman itself is real.

As for premature birth, sex in a normal pregnancy also does not bear any risk. Scientists from the National Institute of Health of the Child and Human Development of the United States (NICHD) Analyzed More than 10,000 pregnancy outcomes. Those women who regularly had sex, while in a position, did not have an increased risk of premature rupture of the fetal membranes, perinatal death of the child or his low weight at birth in comparison with those who practiced abstinence.

A less large -scale study recently Spent Dutch scientists on a sample of 195 women. Pregnant women completely abstained from sex had a slightly higher probability of premature birth, women with a frequency of intimacy from one to four times a month more often gave birth on time, and for those who had sex more than once a week, the probability of giving birth to prematurely increased again. However, the fluctuations were too insignificant so that scientists could make an unambiguous conclusion about the relationship between the intensity of sexual activity during pregnancy and the risk of the birth of a premature child. Researchers emphasize that medical workers should not configure women for abstinence during pregnancy.

Recommendations can be different if a woman suffers from infections of the lower departments of the genital organs: vulvit, vaginitis, cervicitis, etc. Research on Indian scientists showedthat for such women, if they have sex after 28 weeks of bearing a child and the symptoms of diseases are expressed in them, the risk of premature birth will be higher in comparison with those who have these diseases are asymptomatic. However, bacterial infections are by themselves factor risk of premature birth. That is why a woman as part of a medical monitoring of pregnancy several times (depending on the protocol adopted in the country) is offered to pass the appropriate analysis. Two microorganisms turned out to be especially dangerous: Trichomonas vaginalis and Mycoplasma hominis. Specialists from Nichd in 1993 discoveredthat among healthy pregnant women who entered the second trimester into intimacy at least once a week, the risk of premature birth decreased, but those who are infected with these bacteria increased. For pregnant women infected with these microorganisms and abstained from sex, he was close to the middle in the population.

In rare cases, sex during pregnancy can lead to pathology that is dangerous to the future mother - venous air embolism, that is, the penetration of air into the circulatory system. The air bubble can fall into the expanded vessels of the vagina, block the large artery or reach the right ventricle of the heart and lead to death. According to 1998 (later data, there is not due to the rarity of pathology) the probability of such an outcome It is 18 cases for 20 million pregnancies. Venous air embolism more Most likely During orogenital contact, as well as in poses in which the uterus is significantly higher than the level of the heart.

Thus, if the pregnancy proceeds normally, there is no reason to refrain from intimacy due to fear of miscarriage or premature birth. However, sex can aggravate some complications of pregnancy: for example, with bleeding, doctors can recommend temporary abstinence, and with the previous placenta - complete. There is also an extremely small risk of venous air embolism, which can be reduced by avoiding orogenital contacts and certain poses.

Image on the cover: Image by SOHYUN PARK From Pixabay

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