Birth Control While Nursing

Written by Joanna M.

My husband and I didn’t really decide on what we were going to do for birth control after pregnancy until after we started having sex again. During our dating days, we discussed Natural Family Planning, but never really used it to the fullest (hence our beautiful little girl!).
I did some research on breastfeeding and its contraceptive effects. Supposedly, nursing is supposed to suppress ovulation and therefore prevent pregnancy. Of course I’ve heard of people that breastfed in addition to other forms of birth control, and still managed to conceive. Then I heard that there were certain conditions that had to be met for breastfeeding to be an effective form of birth control:
Your baby is under 6 months of age
You haven’t had a period yet
You nurse 8+ times a day
You nurse at least every 4 hours during the day, and at least every 6 hours at night
The fancy name for this is Lactational Amenorrhea Method or LAM. In other words, as long as you haven’t had a period and you’re breastfeeding full-time, you should be protected. So we decided that’s what we’d do. Besides, who wants to mess with pills, condoms, and all that jazz when you’re taking care of a newborn?

Well, then came my 6 week checkup and my Ob/Gyn kind of scoffed at our idea, basically saying, yeah well that really doesn’t work but hey, it’s up to you! So we thought about it and, although we really didn’t want to, and the LAM most likely would have worked, we decided to use condoms, just in case.

At the time I couldn’t bear the thought of getting pregnant again. Don’t get me wrong, we want more kids but those first few weeks are really tough and the last thing you want to do is start all over again! Plus, eventually those feedings get fewer and farther between.
I often wonder if all this time we could’ve done without the condoms and just depended on the breastfeeding. Especially when it’s working out just fine for other friends of mine (usually the ones that wouldn’t mind getting pregnant again right away, go figure!) But hey, when we decide it wouldn’t be so bad to have another one, we could just stop using them and see how long it takes! Although, I think after I’m done breastfeeding and my period goes back to normal, we may try out NFP and see how that goes. From what I’ve heard, it really seems like a good method—no barriers, no artificial hormones, greater awareness of fertility.
For those of you considering other methods, here are a couple of facts:
The Pill will dry up your milk, so don’t take it unless your formula-feeding.
The mini-Pill (progesterone–only) won’t dry up your milk, but it doesn’t prevent ovulation, so if by chance you do conceive, it could prevent the fertilized egg from implanting in your uterus and thus terminating the pregnancy. If you have a problem with this (like me) then it’s best to find some other form of birth control.