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Breastfeeding & birth control



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 11th 04, 10:37 AM
Amy
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Default Breastfeeding & birth control

Ok, so I know exclusive breastfeeding is not a sure method of birth control,
and that you can be ovulating and become pregnant before you get your
periods back, but what is the absolute soonest you can become pregnant while
nursing exclusively?
DH & I are not big fans of condoms (him) or hormonal methods of birth
control (me) and we tend to use natural family planning, quite effectively,
but this throws a spanner in the works. I want to know how long
breastfeeding will give us a 'get out of jail free' card until we're
possibly playing with fire. Also, will charting temperatures work with BF,
or does feeding affect your temps?


  #2  
Old July 11th 04, 02:45 PM
Not My Real Name
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Default Breastfeeding & birth control


"Amy" wrote in message
...
Ok, so I know exclusive breastfeeding is not a sure method of birth

control,
and that you can be ovulating and become pregnant before you get your
periods back, but what is the absolute soonest you can become pregnant

while
nursing exclusively?


A few weeks. It's rare, but it does happen. Typically, I believe that 6
months is the standard -- if you're bf'ing exclusively (don't use a pacifier
either), your period has not returned, and you bf round the clock with no
more than one 5-hour break (I think that's right; check up on that one to be
sure) ever, generally that's pretty effective (99% or something) for 6
months. After 6 months, it may still work, but you're more likely to
ovulate before your period comes back. What about a diaphragm and/or VCF if
you're really worried about it?

I want to know how long
breastfeeding will give us a 'get out of jail free' card until we're
possibly playing with fire.


No guarantees. Every woman varies. Even though my DD started regularly
going 7 hours a night without nursing by the time she was a month old, I
didn't see AF until she was well over 18 months old, and then I got pregnant
(on purpose) a few months after that, as I have long cycles and don't
necessarily ovulate very early in the cycle. Other women have babies who
nurse every few hours round the clock and see AF at 6 or 8 months
postpartum.

Also, will charting temperatures work with BF,
or does feeding affect your temps?


It didn't affect mine, except maybe very vaguely, but some of that may have
been my body's specific quirks. It was very easy to tell when I had
ovulated, to the point at which I can tell that it happened in a specific
couple of hours on a specific day, even in a long cycle. I also check other
symptoms of pending or just-occurred ovulation too -- EWCM a few days
beforehand, very acute ovulation pain on a particular day, and sore nipples
when nursing in the two weeks after ovulation. My temps just confirmed what
I could already tell by other symptoms, though the drop in temps was the
best way to tell that AF was about to arrive. What might affect your temps
more than BF is waking at night. They say you are supposed to get at least
3 consecutive hours of sleep, and I know my temps are easiest to interpret
if they're taken at pretty much the same time every day. It wasn't too
tricky with a toddler who slept fairly predictably (and at that point, she
could wake up, come latch on, and I could pop the thermometer in my mouth
without moving a lot), but it might be harder with a small baby.


--
-Sara
Mommy to DD, 28 months
And Someone Due in February 2005


  #3  
Old July 11th 04, 03:20 PM
Naomi Pardue
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Default Breastfeeding & birth control

that you can be ovulating and become pregnant before you get your
periods back, but what is the absolute soonest you can become pregnant while
nursing exclusively?


DH & I are not big fans of condoms (him) or hormonal methods of birth
control (me) and we tend to use natural family planning, quite effectively,
but this throws a spanner in the works. I want to know how long
breastfeeding will give us a 'get ou


of jail free' card until we're
possibly playing with fire.


There are no 'absolute guarantees' at any time, or with any method of
contraception. You CAN get pregnant while on the pill or using condoms or
having had a tubal.

LAM (Lactational Amenhorrhea Method) is about 98% effective, comparable to the
pill or an IUD. The method requires that:
a. You are less than 6 months post-partum.
b. Baby is bf exclusively on demand. (Which usually implies night feeds, though
the method doesn't specifically say so). Small amounts of solids at around 6
months are not an issue, and don't reduce effectiveness.
c. You have not yet had a period. (No bleeding after 56 days post-partum.)

If all these criteria are met, there is about a 1% chance of conception. (Which
translates to 98% effectiveness, since contraception effectiveness ratings are
based on pregnancies-per-year ... and since LAM can only be used for a maximum
of 6 months, the 1% figure is doubled.

The reason the method works is that, while some women will begin
menstruating/ovulating before 6 months, the numbers are fairly small, and a
large percentage of those first cycles are not fertile. (Either no ovulation
before the bleed, or post-ovulation hormones are not adequate to support a
pregnancy should conception occur.)

After 6 months the odds of pregnancy each cycle increase gradually, as the odds
of menstruation go up, and the odds of a fertile first cycle increase. So,
while some women find that they remain infertile for 9-12 months or more (some
women never menstruate as long as they are bfing), the method is less reliable
at that point, and it's usually best to use another method if you don't want
another pregnancy.

NFP is certainly usable while bfing. Though interrupted sleep makes temps less
reliable, and hormone fluctuations affect cervical mucus. (Though the effect is
usually towards extra caution. Commonly women have what appears to be fertile
mucus while tests show that they are not, in fact, ovulatory. So you would
tend to end up abstaining more often than necessary.)

So ... in summary ... if you are nursing exclusively, LAM is a safe bet for the
first 6 months. After that, you could probably switch back to NFP (of course
you'd want to start charting/monitoring before the 6 month mark, to be sure
that your results mae sense).
If you find that NFP doesn't work for you (or your periods return before 6
months), you might also consider an IUD or a diaphragm if you really don't like
condoms/hormones.


Naomi
CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator

(either remove spamblock or change address to to e-mail
reply.)
  #4  
Old July 12th 04, 02:17 AM
Cathy
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Default Breastfeeding & birth control

Amy wrote:
Ok, so I know exclusive breastfeeding is not a sure method of birth
control, and that you can be ovulating and become pregnant before you
get your periods back, but what is the absolute soonest you can
become pregnant while nursing exclusively?
DH & I are not big fans of condoms (him) or hormonal methods of birth
control (me) and we tend to use natural family planning, quite
effectively, but this throws a spanner in the works. I want to know
how long breastfeeding will give us a 'get out of jail free' card
until we're possibly playing with fire. Also, will charting
temperatures work with BF, or does feeding affect your temps?


I'm not the right person to ask! It seems that breastfeeding was super
effective for me - I only ovulated at around 14 months postpartum (no
pacifier, no bottle of even EBM, and still doing night feeds sometimes till
about 12 months when I'd had enough). We used condoms up till about 11
months when we decided we'd play with fire! Well, we started TTC'ing
really. I must have ovulated around 14 months (still no AF), 'cos the
result is now kicking and squirming like a wild thing inside me!

Cathy


  #5  
Old July 12th 04, 05:04 AM
Zannah
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Default Breastfeeding & birth control

In article ,
"Cathy" wrote:

Amy wrote:
Ok, so I know exclusive breastfeeding is not a sure method of birth
control, and that you can be ovulating and become pregnant before you
get your periods back, but what is the absolute soonest you can
become pregnant while nursing exclusively?
DH & I are not big fans of condoms (him) or hormonal methods of birth
control (me) and we tend to use natural family planning, quite
effectively, but this throws a spanner in the works. I want to know
how long breastfeeding will give us a 'get out of jail free' card
until we're possibly playing with fire. Also, will charting
temperatures work with BF, or does feeding affect your temps?


I'm not the right person to ask! It seems that breastfeeding was super
effective for me - I only ovulated at around 14 months postpartum (no
pacifier, no bottle of even EBM, and still doing night feeds sometimes till
about 12 months when I'd had enough). We used condoms up till about 11
months when we decided we'd play with fire! Well, we started TTC'ing
really. I must have ovulated around 14 months (still no AF), 'cos the
result is now kicking and squirming like a wild thing inside me!

Cathy


I didn't ovulate until a month after the last time I nursed my daughter,
and I certainly hadn't been nursing her exclusively. I'm really hoping
the same thing holds true this time, more because it was so nice *not*
having periods than for birth control; my husband is off to be snipped
sometime after the baby is born. (Which makes me kind of sad, even
though I know it's the right thing to do for us.)

Depending on how sensitive you are to your body's changes, you may be
able to tell that you're ovulating; I certainly did. (And thought, damn,
period in two weeks.) I didn't chart my temps, so I can't give you any
information on that.

Zannah.
  #6  
Old July 12th 04, 06:42 AM
MomToN
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Default Breastfeeding & birth control

I would not advice you to use natural birth control while feeding. It
may work if you are temp charting. But day counting does NOT work and
my second pregnancy is the proof. BF-ing delays ovulation and my
cycles ever since I got it 5 months PP were very irregular- 35 to 45
days. Still I played with fire (we were using withdrawal) and just one
mistake and here we are... I am now 3 months pregnant with a one year
old baby who still breastfeeds when I am at home.

I can't imagine that me and my DH tried to get pregnant with my first
baby for almost a year with unprotected sex and regular
ovulation+periods! I never expected to get pregnant with just one
mistake, especially the day of mistake was way beyond ovulation or so
I thought!

Best of luck!

"Amy" wrote in message ...
Ok, so I know exclusive breastfeeding is not a sure method of birth control,
and that you can be ovulating and become pregnant before you get your
periods back, but what is the absolute soonest you can become pregnant while
nursing exclusively?
DH & I are not big fans of condoms (him) or hormonal methods of birth
control (me) and we tend to use natural family planning, quite effectively,
but this throws a spanner in the works. I want to know how long
breastfeeding will give us a 'get out of jail free' card until we're
possibly playing with fire. Also, will charting temperatures work with BF,
or does feeding affect your temps?

  #7  
Old July 12th 04, 06:20 PM
Ericka Kammerer
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Posts: n/a
Default Breastfeeding & birth control

MomToN wrote:

I would not advice you to use natural birth control while feeding. It
may work if you are temp charting.


Natural family planning (NFP) *IS* using temps (and
cervical mucous, etc.). Counting days, which is not
particularly effective regardless of whether you're
breastfeeding, is affectionately known as the "rhythm
method."

Best wishes,
Ericka

 




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