Can You Get Pregnant While Nursing a Baby

• How can I apply breastfeeding to preclude pregnancy?
• The transition to full fertility
• Do I need to wean to get pregnant?
• References and Additional Resource

• Fertility and conceiving while breastfeeding
• Exclusive breastfeeding/Lactational Amenorrhea Method of birth control
• Impress Resource

How can I utilize breastfeeding to prevent pregnancy?

The Exclusive Breastfeeding method of birth control is too chosen the Lactational Amenorrhea Method of birth command, or LAM. Lactational amenorrhea refers to the natural postpartum infertility that occurs when a woman is not menstruating due to breastfeeding. Many mothers receive alien data on the subject of breastfeeding and fertility.

Myth #one – Breastfeeding cannot exist relied upon to forbid pregnancy.

Myth #ii – Any amount of breastfeeding will forestall pregnancy, regardless of the frequency of breastfeeding or whether mom'due south period has returned.

.

Exclusive breastfeeding has in fact been shown to be an splendid form of birth control, but there are certain criteria that must be met for breastfeeding to be used effectively.

Exclusive breastfeeding (by itself) is 98-99.5% effective in preventing pregnancy as long as all of the following conditions are met:

1. Your baby is less than six months onetime
2. Your menstrual periods accept not yet returned
3. Baby is breastfeeding on cue (both mean solar day & night), and gets aught but breastmilk or but token amounts of other foods.

Effectiveness of Birth Command Methods Number of Pregnancies per 100 Women
Method	Perfect Use	Typical Use
LAM	0.five	two.0
Mirena® IUD	0.i	0.1
Depo-Provera®	0.three	3.0
The Pill / POPs	0.3	8.0
Male safety	ii.0	15.0
Diaphragm	vi.0	16.0
* Adjusted from data at plannedparenthood.org.

How can I maximize my natural menstruation of infertility?

Timing for the render to fertility varies greatly from woman to woman and depends upon baby'due south nursing design and how sensitive mom's trunk is to the hormones involved in lactation.

• Breastfeeding frequency and full amount of time spent breastfeeding per 24 hours are the strongest factors leading to the return of fertility: a mother is more than likely to run across the return of fertility if babe's nursing frequency and/or duration is reduced, peculiarly if the modify is abrupt.
• In some populations, research has shown that night nursing slows the return to fertility.
• One study showed that mothers who were separated from their infants (simply expressed milk to provide 100% breastmilk for baby) had a higher pregnancy risk (five.two%) during the first six months (Valdes 2000).
• The introduction of solid food tin also be a factor in the render of fertility. In one case babe starts solids (if mom'due south cycles take not returned), the natural menses of infertility may exist prolonged by breastfeeding earlier offering solids, starting solids gradually, and not restricting nursing.

You tin can achieve higher effectiveness by practicing ecological breastfeeding:

• keeping baby close
• breastfeeding on cue (24-hour interval and night)
• using breastfeeding to comfort your baby
• breastfeeding in a lying-down position for naps and at night
• using no bottles or pacifiers

If you practise ecological breastfeeding:

• Chance of pregnancy is practically nothing during the first 3 months, less than 2% between 3 and vi months, and about 6% later 6 months (bold mom's menstrual periods have not nevertheless returned).
• The average time for the render of menstrual periods is 14.6 months.
• Moms whose cycles return early tend to exist infertile for the first few cycles. Moms whose cycles render later are more likely to ovulate earlier their starting time period.
  Source: Natural Child Spacing and Breastfeeding by Jen O'Quinn

Source: Natural Child Spacing and Breastfeeding by Jen O'Quinn

While it is possible for a nursing mom to get pregnant while she is breastfeeding and before she has her beginning menstrual menstruation, it is rare. Most moms do not get pregnant until after their first menstruum (oft referred to as the "warning flow"). Even later that, while some can get pregnant the first cycle, others will require months of cycles before pregnancy tin can occur. Still others (this is quite uncommon) may not be able to get pregnant until consummate weaning has occurred.

The transition to full fertility

Several studies have indicated that fertility and ovarian activity return footstep by footstep (Ellison 1996, p. 326-327):

1. Follicular activity without ovulation (No chance of pregnancy.)
   1a. Flow without ovulation (This does not always occur–see beneath.)
2. Ovulation without luteal competence (After the egg is released, fertilization may take place. During the luteal stage, the uterine lining is prepared for implantation as the egg travels down the fallopian tube and into the uterus. If the uterine lining is not adequately prepared for implantation, the implantation will probably not be successful.)
3. Full luteal competence (Full fertility — at this point breastfeeding no longer has any result on your chance of pregnancy.)

It is possible to accept one or (occasionally) more than periods before you lot start ovulating. In this case, menstruation begins during the first phase of the return to fertility –before ovulation returns. Cycles without ovulation are most common during the start 6 months postpartum. For other mothers, the commencement menstruation is preceded by ovulation – a longer period of lactational amenorrhea increases the likelihood that you will ovulate before that kickoff menstruum.

A very small per centum of women will become pregnant during their get-go postpartum ovulation, without having had a postpartum period. Per fertility researcher Alan S. McNeilly, this "is rare and in our feel is related to a rapid reduction in suckling input."

Information technology is non uncommon for breastfeeding mothers to report cyclical cramping or PMS-type symptoms – symptoms of an oncoming period without the menses – for weeks or even months before their flow returns. When this happens, the body is probably "gearing up" for the render of menstruation, only breastfeeding is still delaying the return of fertility.

The amount of time that it takes for the transition to full fertility varies from woman to woman. In general, the earlier that your menses return, the more gradual the return to full fertility.

Reference	Menstruation without ovulation		Outset ovulation without luteal competence	Time between 1st period and ovulation
	0-6 mo	later 6 mo		0-6 mo	after vi mo
Eslami 1990	67%	22%	—	viii.iv weeks	0.one week
Gray 1990	45.1%	"the charge per unit fell greatly"	41%	—	—

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Reference	Frequency of ovulation
	Lactation: 1st cycle	Lactation: 2nd bike	Mail-weaning: 1st cycle	Post-weaning: second cycle	Formula-feeding only: 2nd cycle
Howie 1982	45%	66%	70%	84%	94%

Do I demand to wean to get pregnant?

Probably not. If you lot are notwithstanding transitioning to total fertility (as discussed to a higher place), breastfeeding may affect the success of implantation. In one case implantation is successful, breastfeeding should not affect a good for you pregnancy (run into A New Look at the Safety of Breastfeeding During Pregnancy for more information). If your periods take come up back and settled into a regular pattern, it is probable that breastfeeding is no longer affecting your fertility.

Many moms can conceive without deliberately irresolute their toddler's nursing patterns. In that location is no "magic" threshold of breastfeeding that will allow you to conceive — every mother is unlike. Some moms need to stretch out nursing frequency and/or shorten nursing sessions to make it easier to conceive — babies naturally do this themselves every bit they get older, so one of your options is but to wait a flake.

Changes that are more than abrupt tend to bring fertility back faster (east.one thousand., cut out one nursing session abruptly, rather than gradually decreasing nursing fourth dimension at that session) —even if y'all keep to breastfeed a great deal— this is why many mothers feel the return of fertility when their child sleeps through the night or starts solid foods. If you decide to make changes to your nursing pattern, the time of mean solar day that y'all brand the modify (e.grand., cut out or shortening a night nursing session equally opposed to a daytime nursing session) should not make that much of a departure. Electric current research indicates that nursing frequency and total amount of fourth dimension at the breast per 24 hours are the well-nigh important factors, rather than the time of day that the suckling occurs.

A few moms practice find information technology incommunicable to conceive while nursing, merely this is not at all mutual.

Many mothers wonder whether breastfeeding volition affect the reliability of pregnancy tests. It does not — pregnancy tests measure the corporeality of the hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in blood or urine, and hCG levels are not affected by breastfeeding. The developing placenta begins releasing hCG upon implantation; a pregnancy can generally exist detected with a pregnancy examination inside 7-14 days after implantation.

For more than data, see Getting Pregnant While Breastfeeding by Hilary Flower.

When you practise get pregnant while breastfeeding, what next? See Nursing During Pregnancy & Tandem Nursing for more information.

References and Additional Resources

Fertility and conceiving while breastfeeding

Birth Control and Breastfeeding @

Menstruum and Breastfeeding past Becky Flora, IBCLC

Breastfeeding and Flow, Birth Control and Vaginal Dryness by Paula Yount

Can I get pregnant while I am breastfeeding? LLL FAQ

The Garden of Fertility by Katie Vocalist

Breastfeeding and Birth Control past Anne Smith, IBCLC

Breastfeeding and Fertility by Sherri Hedberg, IBCLC

Taking Charge of Your Fertility website – check out the library and the give-and-take boards.

Campino C, Torres C, Rioseco A, Poblete A, Pugin Due east, Valdes Five, Catalan S,
Belmar C, Seron-Ferre K. Plasma prolactin/oestradiol ratio at 38 weeks gestation predicts the elapsing of lactational amenorrhoea. Hum Reprod. 2001 Dec;16(12):2540-5. "At 38 weeks gestation, the ratio PRL/oestradiol identified all private women according to the subsequent duration of their lactational amenorrhoea, suggesting that elapsing of lactational amenorrhoea is conditioned during pregnancy."

Ellison, PT. Breastfeeding, Fertility, and Maternal Condition. In: Stuart-Macadam P, Dettwyler KA, ed. Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter, 1995:305-345.

Eslami SS, Grey RH, Apelo R, Ramos R. The reliability of menses to signal the return of ovulation in breastfeeding women in Manila, The Philippines. Stud Fam Plann. 1990 Sep-Oct;21(5):243-50.

Gray RH, Campbell OM, Apelo R, Eslami SS, Zacur H, Ramos RM, Gehret JC, Labbok MH. Risk of ovulation during lactation. Lancet. 1990 Jan half dozen;335(8680):25-9.

Howie PW, McNeilly AS, Houston MJ, Melt A, Boyle H. Fertility after childbirth: infant feeding patterns, basal PRL levels and mail service-partum ovulation. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 1982 Oct;17(4):315-22.

Several papers and discussions on fertility and breastfeeding from The United Nations Academy Press Food and Nutrition Bulletin Volume 17, Number four, December 1996.

 Exclusive breastfeeding/Lactational Amenorrhea Method of birth control

What is the contraceptive effect of breastfeeding my babe? from the Managing Contraception website

The Garden of Fertility by Katie Singer

Breastfeeding and Childspacing by Dr. William Sears

What is LAM?. Did you know that sectional breastfeeding tin forestall pregnancy for upward to six months? This site answers your questions!

The Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM): Some other Choice for Mothers past Miriam H. Labbok, Physician, MPH, from Breastfeeding Abstracts, Baronial 1993, Volume xiii, Number 1, pp. 3-four.

Fact Sheet on the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) (PDF version).

Managing Fertility Naturally During Breastfeeding. From the Billings Ovulation Method of Natural Family Planning. Go along on to their home page for more info on the method.

Taylor, H. William, et al. Continuously Recorded Suckling Behaviour and Its Effect on Lactational Amenorrhoea. J Biosoc Sci. 1999;31: 289-310.

Valdes V, Labbok MH, Pugin Eastward, Perez A. The efficacy of the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM) amid working women. Contraception. 2000 Nov;62(5):217-9.

Breastfeeding equally a means to fertility regulation: reviewing the evidence. Progress in Reproductive Health Enquiry. 2000;55:ane-7.

 Print Resources

Your Fertility Signals past Merryl Winstein

Taking Charge of Your Fertility past Toni Weschler

Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing by S.K. Kippley

A Pocket Guide to Managing Contraception past Robert Anthony Hatcher, Grand.D., MPH, et. al. includes accurate information on LAM and other methods of contraception

Ellison, Peter T. "Breastfeeding, Fertility and Maternal Condition,"from Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives (Stuart-Macadam, P. and Dettwyler, K., ed.), New York: Walter de Gruyter, Inc., 1995, p. 305-345.

Mohrbacher Northward. Breastfeeding Answers Made Elementary. Amarilla, TX: Hale Publishing; 2010:490-510.

Valdés V, Labbok MH, Pugin Due east, and Perez A. The efficacy of the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM) among working women. Contraception, 01 Nov 2000; 62(5): 217-9.

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Source: https://kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/fertility/

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