falling preganant when breastfeeding?

[jessica]

Hi,

A question for any medical people out there or just wise mums... Is it possible to fall pregnant when still breastfeeding and your period hasn't returned? I know of a friend who fell pregnant when breastfeeding but her period had come back quite early after babies birth! Confused! :confused: Am I taking risks here!!!!

[schmell]

It is absolutely possible to fall pregnant while breastfeeding. Although if your period hasn't returned I would say you would have lower chances of this happening!! The only thing is, once you start ovulating again there is no real warning sign until you get your period. And who knows when that might happen!!

I would suggest speaking to your GP about the possibilities!

Good luck.

[OopsieDaisy]

Well a girl I knew, her baby was only just 4 months old and her periods had not returned yet and she found out she was 6 weeks preg again! So IT IS possible! ;)

[H&B'sMum]

It is very much possible. I have had 4 very close friends all fall pregnant whilst breastfeeding. You still ovulate while you are breastfeeding, you just may not get a period. Some women get their periods while they are still breastfeeding, some don't. But you still can ovulate. You can take the mini pill while breastfeeding to help with conception, this is safe for mum and bub.
Hope this helps.

[xkwzit]

Hi
I don't probably need to add anything to the above, except to say that I know two couples who are currently expecting their "unexpected" third children as a result of falling pregnant while still breastfeeding. You can certainly ovulate (and therefore be fertile) BEFORE you have a period.

Cheers

[RuthK]

Sure the risk is there, but as they say on the TAC ads, don't take the risk because you might just get "a little bit" pregnant (unless you want to be). My doctor told me that "tummy to tummy" pregnancies are not ideal as your body needs time to reallign with a few menstrual cycles so that it can healthily carry the next pregnancy through.

If your periods do come back, you might want to chart your temperature for a few months. Quite often when your periods come back your cycle can go back to the normal 28 or so days but the reason you don't get pregnant is because the hormones secreted whilst breastfeeding can cause you to ovulate much later in your monhtly cycle (ie: day 20 of a 28 day cycle, instead of day 14). This would not stop your egg fertilising, but as the fertilised egg requires at least 10 days to successfully implant into the uterus, if you only have 8 or so days between ovulation and menstruation, there is not enough time for implantation to occur and your body will not recognise the pregnancy and your period will come on. It's called having a short luteal phase and is the reason many breastfeeding women do not get pregnant (was with me).

Of course, it's not always the case, and as you continue breastfeeding your luteal phase can eventually lengthen sufficiently for implantation to occur.

[PJO27]

Absolutely you can fall pregnant while breastfeeding. Look at what happened to my mum!

My mum had me on the 6th December, was breastfeeding, my sister was born on the 11th November the following year, so that's only about 2 or 3 months later that she conceived!!

[Terrible2+1cutie]

I fell pregnant with Bailey when Blaze was only 6 months old and i was still breast feeding him, i am proof that you can still get pregnant while breast feeding, i was having my period from shortly after having Blaze though.

[draught]

I realise that your question is probably answered already by the previous posts but thought I would add mine anyway - I was still breastfeeding and didn't have a period when I fell pregnant with Chloe. I sort of knew that there was a chance though, as I dropped from 6 feeds a day to 3 feeds a day over a fortnight - and then had ovulation pain.......but it was too late. I went to my doctor two weeks later and he asked the standard "what was the first date of your last period" and I had to tell him that it was 20 months ago. So - definitely possible to get pregnant without a period while breastfeeding. But - if you are feeding at the same level, with no change, and you haven't had a period, then the chances are pretty slim. It is only if there is a change like reducing the number of feeds, introducing solids, baby sleeping through etc, that you start to enter the danger zone. I read somewhere that you produce the hormone for ovulation between 12 midnight and 5am, so if your baby isn't waking then for a feed, that is when you should start thinking about contraception. I think that at the end of the day, you need to weigh up how devastated you would be to find yourself pregnant again or how much you want another one, and base your decision about contraception on that.

[Taylor & Lachlans Mummy]

I was told by my ob gyn to use condoms even when breast feeding & not having a period as you can still ovulate. One of my dh's friends wife fell preggers whilst breast feeding.
However my dr also told me it is rare to fall preggers while bfing, almost as rare as falling preggers on the pill, bowever I managed to fall preggers on the pill (Iwas so careful not to miss one cause I wanted to wait a bit before #2) I have 13mths between my two, so anything is possible.

[WeThree]

just thought id quickly share my experience :) matilda was conceived whilst i was breastfeeding Cooper and on the mini pill and no periods! she was certainly meant to be here! :D (the doctor said probably because he was down to 2 feeds a day when i fell, apparantly full feeding and mini pill is quite affective)

[our little treasures]

hi there just thought i would throw my 20cents worth in as well, I was fully b/f my dd 8-10 times a day and night when my period came back. We were delighted as we wanted two close together, but the info about feeds thru the night etc I was feeding every 2-3 hrs all thru the night and i still got them.

My sil had her bub 6weeks b4 me and her period hadn't returned when she stoped feeding at 6mnths and wondered why well she was 10wks preggers.
So be careful after all no conception is 100 percent anyway.
;) good luck

:) mummy to 1 and a half
:p Atahlia 30.01.04
:) bubba EDD 22.7.05