Mood boosts and increased cardiovascular blood flow are common benefits to pregnant women who have sex, and these can be passed along to baby as well.(But don’t worry - having sex while pregnant won’t cause early labor in low risk pregnancies.) Also, the prostaglandins in sperm can help ripen the cervix. Oxytocin, one of the key hormones involved in progressing labor, is released during sex, and orgasms mimic contractions. Sperm and vaginal sex can help induce labor when the time comes.Not only is sperm safe, but there may be some benefits to having sex and contact with sperm before and during pregnancy: That said, check with your doctor if you have any questions about the overall safety of sex due to any risk factors associated with your pregnancy. Sperm is typically considered safe for pregnant women and babies. As soon as a viable pregnancy is established, your body hangs its own version of a “no vacancy” sign. Given all of these factors, superfetation is an exceedingly rare possibility. This requires a hormone balance that’s not typically found during pregnancy. Third, for a viable pregnancy to occur, the fertilized egg has to successfully implant in the uterus. (While this isn’t the main purpose of the mucus plug, its bacteria- and infection-blocking properties work on sperm, too.) But thanks to the mucus plug, sperm are blocked from reaching eggs in early pregnancy. Second, even if a pregnant woman were to ovulate, sperm would have to get to that egg. In fact, fewer than 10 cases have been reported in medical literature.įirst, a woman would have to ovulate to become pregnant, and the process of ovulation is essentially shut down during pregnancy due to the release of certain hormones. Sound crazy? Superfetation is well documented in a variety of other mammals but highly unlikely in humans for a number of reasons. Superfetation, to put it simply, is a pregnancy that begins after another one has already started.
Can you conceive another baby while pregnant?Īlong with being able to relax about where your sperm is going in a low risk pregnancy, you may be relieved to know that it’s highly unlikely for a pregnant woman to conceive again.