There has long been an old wives tale that having frequent sex near your due date will induce labor and many women who are either overdue or just ready to be done with pregnancy have out of desperation forced themselves to engage in the act. Of course, there's no danger in having sex throughout your pregnancy, but a recent study out of Malaysia concluded that although it has long been thought hormones in semen could help bring baby down, the study of over 1,000 women between 35 and 38 weeks pregnant showed that whether the women had sex frequently or not, they delivered at an average of 39 weeks. However, if you're feeling awesome and just as randy as ever, more power to you.
But if you just can't seem to get in the mood, rest assured that whether you go at it like rabbits or not, your baby won't make an appearance until he's good and ready. Oh, and don't feel bad about it either–there are lots of reasons you might want to skip out on doing the deed late in your third trimester. Here are my top four:
1. Feeling like a whale? I'd bet money that most women who have little to no sexual desire towards the end of their pregnancies would site size as a reason. In the last few weeks it's hard enough to roll over in your bed let alone turn it into an amorous haven.
2. Everything hurts. I don't know about most women, but by the end of my pregnancy, every bone in my body ached on a daily basis. I could barely get off the sofa without my back spasming. Oh yeah and my entire abdomen went into a fit of stretching pains and cramping every time I stood up for too long–or even sat down for too long.
3. Grooming. Have you ever tried shaving your legs–or anything else for that matter–blind? Yeah, it's not so easy peering around the basketball that is now your belly and attempting to bend down low enough to reach your legs and yet still avoid toppling over. It's nearly impossible. And wildebeest legs are just not sexy.
4. Labor! Okay, you may be sick and tired of being huge, achey, and hairy, but impending labor is still scary business. If your nerves are getting the best of you, you might not even want to take the slightest chance of it happening any time soon. Oh and on another note…does anyone even know if it's possible to go into labor while you're having sex? I can't imagine that would be fun.
Image via Thinkstock
