Is it good for a pregnant woman in the second trimester to still continue breast-feeding?
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My wife is pregnant with our second child which is in the second trimester, but still breast-feeds our first child who is under 1 year. Is there any risk in doing this?
I’m breastfeeding and in my second trimester. My doctor hasn’t told me to stop. There is no harm in nursing unless your wife has been put on pelvic rest…ie, no sex, orgasms or uterine contractions.
Should be fine, but she should have asked her doctor by now if there was any concern shouldn’t she?
she will be absolutely fine. many mums do the same. but sometimes it depend on the health of the mums too. so you can consult a doctor and congrates for secong one
women do it all the time
Unless she is having an extremly high risk pregnancy then she can continue to breastfeed.
The answer is one nobody seems to realize. The answer is actually, no! You really need to see your doctor and get some good advice on this most lactation specialists will tell you to NOT STIMULATE YOUR breasts if you are pregnant! This can cause premature labor!!!! But again, see your doctor and a true board certified lactation educator! See a doctor! Do not rely on internet info for a topic such as this. If you have been CONTINUOUSLY feeding since conception, you MAY be okay. Just watch for uterine contractions! Again, you need to see a doctor regularly!
Yes, its healthy for mom and baby, unless mom feels unable to continue because she is not eating properly or whatever.
American Academy of Family Physicians
http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/policy/policies/b/breastfeedingpositionpaper.html
As recommended by the WHO, breastfeeding should ideally continue beyond infancy, but this is not the cultural norm in the United States and requires ongoing support and encouragement.69 It has been estimated that a natural weaning age for humans is between two and seven years.70 Family physicians should be knowledgeable regarding the ongoing benefits to the child of extended breastfeeding, including continued immune protection,71 better social adjustment,72 and having a sustainable food source in times of emergency. The longer women breastfeed, the greater the decrease in their risk of breast cancer.73 Mothers who have immigrated from cultures in which breastfeeding beyond infancy is routine should be encouraged to continue this tradition. There is no evidence that extended breastfeeding is harmful to mother or child. Breastfeeding during a subsequent pregnancy is not unusual. If the pregnancy is normal and the mother is healthy, breastfeeding during pregnancy is the woman’s personal decision. If the child is younger than two years, the child is at increased risk of illness if weaned. Breastfeeding the nursing child after delivery of the next child (tandem nursing) may help provide a smooth transition psychologically for the older child.19
http://www.kellymom.com/nursingtwo/faq/01safety.html
Is it safe to nurse during pregnancy?
Yes, in most cases. At this time no medical study has been done on the safety of breastfeeding during pregnancy so it is impossible to list any definitive contraindications. If you are having a complicated pregnancy, such as lost weight, bleeding, or signs of preterm labor, you should problem-solve your individual situation with your caregiver. Depending on your individual situation and feelings you may decide that continued breastfeeding, reduced breastfeeding, or weaning is for the best.
[...]
Mother’s health
There is no evidence that a well nourished mother who nurses during pregnancy is at risk nutritionally. Breastfeeding does not increase a mother’s risk for osteoporosis, even when the mother nurses during pregnancy. Breastfeeding reduces the mother’s risk of breast cancer.
Nursling’s health
Your child will benefit from breastfeeding into the second year and beyond. The milk is just as safe during pregnancy, but pregnancy can cause milk to dwindle and can also motivate mother and child to wean. Thus if pregnancy does cause a child to receive less milk, the child will receive proportionally fewer of milk’s health advantages. Indeed, weaning before two years increases the risk of illness for a child, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.
http://www.kellymom.com/nursingtwo/articles/bfpregnancy_safety.html#uterus
The well-protected uterus
The specter of breastfeeding-induced preterm labor appears to spring in large part from an incomplete understanding of the interactions between nipple stimulation, oxytocin, and pregnancy.
The first little-known fact is that during pregnancy less oxytocin is released in response to nipple stimulation than when a woman is not pregnant.5
But the key to understanding breastfeeding during pregnancy is the uterus itself. Contrary to popular belief, the uterus is not at the beck and call of oxytocin during the 38 weeks of the “preterm” period. Even a high dose of synthetic oxytocin (Pitocin) is unlikely to trigger labor until a woman is at term.6
Instead, the uterus must actively prepare in order for labor to commence. You could say that there are two separate states of being for the uterus: the quiescent baby-holder and the active baby-birther. These states make all the difference to how the uterus responds to oxytocin, and so, one can surmise, to breastfeeding. While the baby is growing, the uterus is geared to have a muffled response to oxytocin; at term, the body’s preparations for labor transform the uterus in ways that make it respond intensely to oxytocin.
Many discussions of breastfeeding during pregnancy mention “oxytocin receptor sites,” the uterine cells that detect the presence of oxytocin and cause a contraction. These cells are sparse up until 38 weeks, increasing gradually after that time, and increasing 300-fold after labor has begun.6,7 The relative scarcity of oxytocin receptor sites is one of the main lines of defense for keeping the uterus quiescent throughout the entire preterm period—but it is not the only one.
A closer look at the molecular biology of the pregnant uterus reveals yet more lines of defense. In order for oxytocin receptor sites to respond strongly to oxytocin they need the help of special agents called “gap junction proteins”. The absence of these proteins renders the uterus “down-regulated,” relatively insensitive to oxytocin even when the oxytocin receptor site density is high. And natural oxytocin-blockers, most notably progesterone, stand between oxytocin and its receptor site throughout pregnancy. 8,9,10
With the oxytocin receptor sites (1) sparse, (2) down-regulated, and (3) blocked by progesterone and other anti-oxytocin agents, oxytocin alone cannot trigger labor. The uterus is in baby-holding mode, well protected from untimely labor.4
http://www.kellymom.com/nursingtwo/faq/04momnutrition.html#calcium
Calcium
Pregnant and/or nursing mothers do not need additional calcium other than that normally required for their age group. The Institute of Medicine recommends that nursing mothers over the age of 18 consume 1,000 mg. of calcium daily — the same as other adults.
Hilary Flower researched this question for Adventures in Tandem Nursing: Breastfeeding during Pregnancy and Beyond. She found three important facts that have come from the research of Dr. Ann Prentice in recent years:
1. Recovery of bone mineral density occurs BEFORE weaning. The recovery begins after the baby’s diet begins to be supplemented with other foods or liquids (the "partial breastfeeding phase"). By 12 months breastfeeding mothers have fully recovered their bone mineral density.
2. If a mother becomes pregnant before the recovery is complete, bone mineral density increases during pregnancy, a phenomonon not usually seen.
3. Mothers who are tandem nursing fare the same as their breastfeeding peers.
Flower comments: "Eventually popular beliefs will catch up to the scientific advances of the last five years, and breastfeeding mothers will no longer have to fend off admonishments that their bones are in jeopardy. For their part, scientists have moved on." (Adventures in Tandem Nursing, p. 213)
The only potential problem with breastfeeding while pregnant, is that suckling produces oxytocin and oxytocin can (not always) make the uterus contract. If she is high risk, it is very advisable to cease breastfeeding. However, seeing as she is the mom and she knows her body best, no one else can say whether those contractions (if she even gets them from breastfeeding) will lead to labor. It is entirely a take it by ear circumstance that only she alone can determine its pros and cons for her particular situation.
I did breastfeed through my second trimester until I found out I was high risk, where upon I personally (never directed by a doctor) chose to stop. but it was my decision, I based on facts and weighing the pros and cons.
There is no risk unless she’s at very high risk for miscarriage/premature labor.
She can continue to breastfeed through the entire pregnancy, and go on to nurse both babies if that is her wish. (And her child’s.)
So long as it’s a low risk pregnancy- nope. She’s totally fine and is doing what’s best for your babies (both of them!) Tandem nursing when the new baby is born helps alleviate sibling rivalry. Do some reading so that way you’re more informed:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/tandem/links-nursingpregnant.html
Congrats on your babies!