Is it safe to have sex during period?

Q: Is it safe to have sex during your period?

A: That depends on what you mean by safe. If you mean safe as a method of birth control, then sex during period is less risky than having sex mid-cycle, but hardly qualifies as foolproof.

Women can get pregnant during their periods, especially if they have intercourse in the last day or two. So if you?re trying to prevent pregnancy, you should continue to use your regular method of birth control when you?re menstruating.

Otherwise, sex during menstruation is fine – with one qualification that we?ll get to in a moment. Physically, the act of sexual intercourse during menstruation poses no direct medical threat. It may be a little messy, though, and you may want to lay a towel beneath you. As long as both partners are comfortable with it, there?s no reason why sex during menstruation should be taboo.

You need to know, however, that there may be a somewhat increased risk of spreading sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), particularly AIDS. That?s because HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, travels most easily in blood. So if you?re in a non-monogamous relationship, you should take the same safe-sex precautions against STDs that you would take any other day of the month. And if you or your sexual partner is already infected with HIV, you may want to avoid intercourse altogether during your period.