Birth control while nursing?

[AnnaBanana]

I keep finding the online info confusing. some sites say it's 'ok', others say that it is not. my doctor prescribed me birth control and said it was fine, but now i am reading conflicting information (about the hormones being past through to my baby?). hmm. i feel like throwing the pack out now!

[JuliaP]

My doctor told me that it was not safe. There is a "mini pill" called Micronor that doesn't have quite as many hormones but my doctor said that wasn't safe either.

[Winegums]

Best bet is to call Motherisk (http://www.motherisk.org/women/index.jsp) and ask. They'll ask you which birth control pill you are taking, how old the baby is, how many times you nurse a day etc. and give you an answer specific to your medication.

416.813.6780

[canadiannancy]

just did the birth control class at prenatal class a couple of weeks ago, and they said they did not recommend hormonal during the start of nursing, but once nursing was well established the mini pill was a good choice. With the mini pill it is imperative to use the exact same time every day it is more sensitive to user error. I would give public health a call, or healthy babies healthy children, as my family visitor from hbhc gave the bc talk recently too and they are very very knowledgeable if you are from my region.

[krobin]

I successfully used LAM method for almost 21 months after the birth of baby #2 until I became pregnant with #3. I used LAM a tad too long......http://www.parenting.com/article/Fertility/Fertility/Ask-Dr-Sears-Breastfeeding-as-Birth-Control

[setell]

I am not a doctor but wouldn't it ahh make sense not to take the pill while you're nursing? My fiancee told me that there are no definite studies on the concrete effects of how the pill affects the baby in pregnant women that don’t know they are pregnant. Some say it’s ok and other say it’s not. So I would assume the effects of passing the hormones onto the baby while nursing may be the same? I don’t know about you but I won’t take that risk at all. Why not use a condom? If used effectively, the key is effectively, it has a protection rate of 97% vs 99% for the pill. Even for the pill it has to be taken at a almost perfect time everyday to be 99%. If you get pregnant while using the condom properly the I’ll say that is a special miracle baby! :D If you use spermacide lubricant you’ll increase your odds of protection too. So I think you should really talk to your doctor about this and talk to your pharmacist. It’s scary but a lot of doctors don’t know the drug interactions or how the drugs will work on your body that a pharmacist will know. It’s inconvenient for a while but hey you know your kid will be 100% safe from the potential hormones that maybe harmful to him/her.

[Knitecrow]

Lactation suppresses the hormones involved the menstrual cycle and acts as a natural birth control. You don't need to be taking extra pills. Some parts of the world, babies are breast fed until they are like 4 years old.


From an evolutionary point of view, it makes a lot of sense.

[canuckgirl]

Lactation suppresses the hormones involved the menstrual cycle and acts as a natural birth control. You don't need to be taking extra pills. Some parts of the world, babies are breast fed until they are like 4 years old.


From an evolutionary point of view, it makes a lot of sense.

Please don't repeat this incorrect information. There are many women who ovulate and can get pregnant while nursing round the clock. Using nursing as birth control is the perfect way to get pregnant again!

[Knitecrow]

I thought it was understood that we were talking in general terms that apply to the typical case and that any suggestion would be double checked against with that of your medical doctor.

That said, the stats I have seen indicate that, when done properly, it is 98% effective in typical case.

V.S. the 93% effectiveness for oral contraceptives in the typical case.


These numbers should be used a point of discussion with a family physician. Nothing more.

[krobin]

quote

A major study conducted by the World Health Organization in seven countries found that LAM was 98.8 to 99.1 percent effective while breastfeeding for the first six months. The study, published in 1999, followed more than 4,000 women for a year after they gave birth.

so that is just as effective as hormonal birth control but you should practice most of the seven standards of ecological breastfeeding. Interesting tidbit ecological breastfeeding given a means of child spacing optimal time between pregnancies is 22 months or children should be 30 months apart or so.

quote * Breastfeeding must be the infant’s only source of nutrition – no formula, no pumping, and (if the infant is less than six months old) no solids or water at all.
* The infant must be pacified at the breast, not with pacifiers or bottles or by placing a finger in the mouth.
* The infant must be breastfed frequently. The standards for LAM are a bare minimum; greater frequency is better. Sucking should include non-nutritive sucking when the infant cues the mother, not just breastfeeding as a means of nutrition. Scheduling of feedings is incompatible with LAM.
* Mothers must practice safe co-sleeping as it is the proximity of the child to the mother that increases prolactin.
* Mothers must not be separated from their infants. This includes substitutes for mother such as babysitters and even strollers or anything else that comes between mother and physical contact with her child. Babywearing (using cloth carriers) means tactile stimulation between mother and child and increases access to the breast. Any separation from the mother will decrease the efficacy of ecological breast feeding.
* Mothers must take daily naps with their infants.
* A mother must not have had a period after 56 days post-partum (bleeding prior to 56 days post-partum can be ignored).

[AnnaBanana]

i know that since i'm nursing exclusively, that odds are i'm not ovulating, HOWEVER i had complications with my last delivery, and therefore it was STRONGLY recommended that i NOT get pregnant again for a while (not sure if i will anyway!). so i needed some form of birth control ;)

condoms aren't a great option as the expense is annoying...

btw can you please give me a link to the WHO info? sounds really interesting (especially about non-nutritional nursing) - i'd love to read more.... and to be able to quote it to my bottle-feeding friends who annoy me with their "but how is she still hungry?" comments....

[CSK'sMom]

Anna, have you discussed an IUD with your doc? Seems like a logical choice to me given what you've said about not wanting to get pregnant for quite some time, if at all again.

[setell]

If you don't want children again then the safest method and maybe cheapest is get your tubes tied! That is if you're 100% sure you don't want more children. Honestly, if you're not considering the condom as a form of birth control cause the "expense is annoying" then I don't know what to say. You rather risk it then pay to make sure your kid is 100% safe? I thought your husband is in between jobs so you guys got no benefits and you'll have to pay for the birth control pills anyway! There is very little cost difference between the pill and condom! OR the cheapest method is to not have sex and I guarantee you to be 100% protected :cheesygri. Seriously, if you don't want to pay for any form of birth control then don't get kinky!

[LisaB]

Lactation suppresses the hormones involved the menstrual cycle and acts as a natural birth control. You don't need to be taking extra pills. Some parts of the world, babies are breast fed until they are like 4 years old.


From an evolutionary point of view, it makes a lot of sense.

Please don't repeat this incorrect information. There are many women who ovulate and can get pregnant while nursing round the clock. Using nursing as birth control is the perfect way to get pregnant again!

Ditto. It happened to my sister. She had her daughter on November 17, 2007, and her son on November 9, 2008. Not even a year apart!!! Her friend told her the same thing, but poor sis had to learn the hard way lactation isn't a form of birth control :D

For the OP: I would agree with many others here that it's not worth the risk to take the pill while breast feeding. That being said, I also agree with other posters that suggest looking into other forms of birth control. IUD is one of the most used forms of BC by women in the world who don't want to be sterile just yet. It's also available low cost through some birth control clinics in major metropolitan cities.

Condoms are successful if used properly. The condom is no less effective than the pill when used correctly. If the only issue about condoms for you is the cost, have you considered getting them for free? There are many BC clinics and Public Health departments that give away free, legitimate name-brand condoms.

[angels2009]

My doctor prescribed Birth control, but told me the only side effect would be decreased milk supply. I did some research on the net and found that most women who took it had a big decrease, so I decided against it until I stopped nursing.

[getmail99]

Be careful with LAM. As you know, my wife breastfed 3 1/2 years.

As soon as the breast feeding is less frequent than about 3 to 4 hours, if I remember correctly, her period returned. So it can happen any time after 3 to 4 month.

So be careful if your baby can sleep more than 5 hour at night.

I won't count on this method, because you don't expect when it would happen.

[yunnage]

I just saw my midwife for my 6 week postpartum check and she said that the pill does transfer some of the hormones through the milk, but in quantities that are deemed safe. She also said that for the most part if you're feeding on demand (so, the early months) it is highly unlikely that you'll get pregnant. However, once you start feeding less frequently you're likely to get your period.

She also wanted to remind me that women ovulate before their periods, so we can still be pregnant without ever getting our first postpartum period.