Picture this: You’re in the middle of having the kind of sex that fantasies are made of. You’re going at it, totally lost in the moment, when your vagina lets out a noise that sounds suspiciously like you had too many beans for lunch. It could qualify as a record-scratch moment, but it doesn’t need to. You just queefed, NBD. Here’s what you’ve got to know about what you may have, up until now, thought of as vagina farts.
What Exactly Is a Queef?
“We don’t devote any education to this in residency, but I tell patients it’s a very normal thing,” says Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale Medical School. “It’s different from expelling gas from your rectum, which happens because of bacterial activity in the gut.” Queefing is the result of a trapped pocket of air getting pushed out of your vagina. “The vagina isn’t a straight tube. It has folds called rugae that are like wrinkles. One can imagine how air could get trapped there."
When Does Queefing Happen?
It often occurs during sex, when a penis going in and out of a vagina can displace the air inside of it. “It can happen during any position and is usually fairly quick,” says Minkin. Of course, that's also just about the last time you would want to rip one. A queef can also slip out during exercise, like when you’re getting into downward dog or knocking out the last set of crunches.
Is There Any Reason to Worry?
Not at all, says Minkin. “Queefing is of zero health consequence." The one thing she does note that’s slightly related is if someone blows into a pregnant woman’s vagina, there’s concern that the air can get into her pelvic veins and create the risk of an air embolism. “You know how people get nervous when there’s an air bubble in an IV? It’s the same concern: what if the air gets into the vein and travels to the heart or lungs or fetus?” Although it sounds freaky, Minkin says the worry is more theoretical than practical. “I’ve been out of medical school for almost 40 years and have never had a case of that,” she says.
How Should You Handle It During Sex?
Since Minkin says there’s no mysterious secret to avoiding a queefs, it’s best not to be afraid or ashamed of them. It’s a natural bodily function, so you should laugh about it and continue along with business as usual. “I would hope you’re comfortable enough to talk about something like this with the person you’re having sex with,” says Minkin. “Just joke about it and keep going. These things happen!”
More from Women's Health:
Your Vagina On Sex
Everything You Need to Know About Vaginas
How Your Vagina Changes in Your 20s, 30s, and 40s
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