Context: My wife is currently more than a week overdue with our first child. About ten days ago, I started showing symptoms of an infection, which was later confirmed to be Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. My symptoms have mostly resolved as of a few days ago.
We have been extremely careful to prevent her from catching it, and it seems our efforts have been successful. We’ve used separate bathrooms, avoided sharing food, and I’ve been washing my hands religiously.
It has been nearly a week since I last experienced diarrhea, and I’ve been back on a regular diet for several days. My only lingering symptom is that my stools are quite dry, but otherwise, I feel normal.
Currently, my wife is very interested in having sex—not just for fun, but to try and naturally induce labor. She is scheduled for an induction this Monday and really wants to avoid it. However, I’ve read that this specific E. coli strain can persist in the body for weeks after the symptoms vanish.
Is there a method to do this while minimizing the risk of passing the infection to her? I understand that E. coli isn’t transmitted through semen, yet my doctor still advised against it.
TL;DR: I’ve recovered from E. coli and my wife wants to have sex to help start labor. Is there a way to do this safely?