Anal Sex During Pregnancy: What You Need to Know

Even though vaginal sex during pregnancy is usually safe, you may want to spice up your sex life and try something different, like having anal sex when pregnant. Anal can also help satiate your desire if you find your hormones go crazy during pregnancy.

It can be uncomfortable at times to have vaginal sex during pregnancy. Your body goes through many hormonal changes during this time. Your uterus might change position, or you might feel pressure in your uterus as the baby grows. That could make vaginal sex uncomfortable and why some sex positions work better during pregnancy.

So you and your partner might want anal sex during pregnancy, but you may be wondering whether anal sex while pregnant is safe.

There are some risks associated with anal sex during pregnancy, and you should know what they are. You should also check with your doctor. He or she can let you know whether having anal sex during your pregnancy is safe. Don’t be embarrassed to ask. Your doctor has heard this before. You need to be able to discuss any concerns with your doctor.

It Could Be Uncomfortable

Women often to develop hemorrhoids from being constipated during pregnancy. Hemorrhoids, which are swollen veins in the rectum and anus, can be painful on their own. Having anal sex during pregnancy probably intensifies the pain. If your hemorrhoids are bleeding, you could make the bleeding worse by having anal sex. If you lose too much blood while having anal sex when pregnant, you can endanger the baby.

You Could Get Anal Inflammation

There is the potential of anal inflammation when you have anal sex. This results in pain, discomfort and a constant urge to poop. You can get this condition by anal trauma caused by anal sex and by sexually transmitted infections.

There Are Hygiene Issues

Anal sex could result in a bacterial infection spreading from your anus to your vagina, particularly if you have vaginal sex after having anal sex. You shouldn’t do this even when you’re not pregnant, but it’s even more important to avoid vaginal infection when you’re pregnant because it could affect your baby’s health. Bacterial vaginosis could cause your water to break early or cause preterm labor.

You Could Harm the Placenta

The placenta is essential. Your baby gets nutrients and oxygen from it, and the placenta removes waste products. You could harm the placenta if you have a condition called placenta previa and engage in anal sex.

This condition happens when the placenta covers the cervical opening, which is the area in the lower part of the uterus that connects with the top part of the vagina. The placenta usually attaches to the sides or the top of the uterus, not the bottom as it does with placenta previa.

Learn: Labelled vagina anatomy diagram.

This condition makes it extremely dangerous to have anal sex during pregnancy. It’s already more likely for bleeding to occur with placenta previa than during a regular pregnancy. Any bleeding during pregnancy requires a doctor’s care.

You can take precautions to reduce these risks.

Get rid of hemorrhoids: If you have hemorrhoids, you can take steps to get rid of them, according to the Mayo Clinic. Soaking in a tub of plain, warm water several times a day helps. You can also put witch hazel pads on the anal area. Try not to sit for long periods. It’s better to lie down. If you need to sit, get up often. If you’re constipated, take some steps to try to relieve it by eating more fiber, drinking more water, exercising more and asking your doctor whether you can take stool softeners.

Use lubricants: Whether you have hemorrhoids or not, make sure you use personal lubricant when you have anal sex. Water-based lubes are best to use during pregnancy because they pose little risk of infection. You might need to reapply the lube often. Avoid any lubricants with fragrance, parabens, glycerin or additives that cause tingling. Oil-based lubricants could cause infection because they can alter the pH balance of your vagina. Learn more about lube here.

Avoid infection: If there is a possibility of having vaginal sex after anal sex, have your guy wear a condom during anal sex that he can take off before he enters you vaginally. Or if he doesn’t wear a condom during anal sex and then wants to have vaginal sex, make sure you or he cleans his penis with warm, soapy water and then rinses off the soapy water before he enters your vaginally.

Care for anal inflammation: Ask your doctor whether you can take any medication to relieve symptoms of anal inflammation. You can also take a sitz bath, which is sitting in a tub of warm water. Use about 2 inches of water for a sitz bath. Sit in the warm water for 10 to 15 minutes three times a day. When done, gently pat the area with a towel to dry.

Wear a condom: If you’re not in a monogamous relationship, and you’re having any sort of sex, including anal sex, make sure you have your partner wear a condom. This is always important, whether you’re pregnant or not. But when you are pregnant, getting a disease such as HIV not only infects you, it can infect your baby as well.

If you can’t do these things, you might want to focus on him. You can:

• Perform a rim job
• Massage his prostate
• Try pegging your husband

Some Anal Sex Tips

Your anus has tons of nerve endings, which makes anal sex pleasurable for many people (some people even have anal orgasms!), and your man will enjoy the tight feeling (find out why men like anal). If you have no pregnancy complications, here’s how to prepare for anal sex:

• If you’ve never had anal sex before, start by having him insert his finger or a small sex toy in your anus like a butt plug. Many people love anal fingering even if they don’t like anal sex (although many women do enjoy anal sex). You can experiment with anal masturbation.
• Make sure whatever is put in your anus is clean, whether it’s a finger, a sex toy (dildos can also be used for strap-on sex with your man) or his penis.
• Use lots of lube.
• Have your partner get you aroused before you try. Otherwise, your sphincter will not be relaxed, which makes anal sex more difficult.
• Once aroused, have him put the lube on his penis and around your anal opening.
• Have him enter you slowly. He needs to make sure you’re relaxed so that your sphincter doesn’t tense up. That’s what causes pain. Read this post if anal sex hurts.
• Once your guy is in you a little bit, have him stop and wait for you to let him know when he can continue. But he still needs to go slowly when he does continue.
• You can try different positions (check out 28 anal sex positions), such as doggy style or sitting on his lap with your back to him. You can also lie on your side.
• Let your guy know when you need more lube. You’ll probably need to reapply it several times.

Many of the tips for first-time anal sex can help when you’re pregnant! However, pregnancy might not be the right time to try anal sex for the first time. You might benefit from anal training beforehand. Find out more about anal training.

If you’re not ready for penetration, you can just stick to rimming. More in this post on rimming. If your partner needs tips, he should check out our guide to eating ass.

Related: How To Prepare For Orgasmic Anal Sex – 14 Vital Steps

There are quite a few risks associated with anal sex during pregnancy (getting pregnant from anal isn’t one of them, however), so you should talk with a doctor about engaging in anal sex during your pregnancy. If you use the right precautions, however, you should be able to enjoy anal sex safely during pregnancy.

Learn more about the safety of anal sex.

It’s important to communicate a lot during anal sex while pregnant and to have your partner enter you slowly.  Stuck on what to say? Check out this guide to sexual communication. You want to be careful and enjoy the experience. Using lubrication should help with this.

If you go about having anal sex while taking all the precautions to ensure your unborn child and you are safe, it will benefit you and your partner so that you’ll want to try new things sexually in the future — including anal sex.