What are the odds of getting pregnant while breastfeeding?
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I just want to know how likely it is to get pregnant while breastfeeding exclusively and haven’t had a period. Thanks in advance for any stories or info!
As long as you are not going more than 2-3 hours without feeds and that includes nights, have not restarted your periods and your baby is under 6 months then it is actually 98-99% effective despite others saying it is not. THere is a lot of research on that.
I tried for my baby from 3 months postnatal but I didn’t start my periods again until my daughter was 11 months old and fell when she was 13 months so it was very effective for me.
I am still breastfeeding her now at 19 months and 26 weeks pregnant so it’s not effective forever
i’d think it would knda dampen the passion.
Statistically — if you are less than 6 month post-partum, exclusively breastfeeding, and haven’t had a period, you have about a 1% chance of getting pregnant.
After 6 months, the odds of conceiving before your first period increase gradually.(I’ve seen a table somewhere giving specific odds for each month, but I don’t know that it’s available on-line.)
For the first six months if you breastfeed exclusively (i.e. no bottles or pacifiers) the rate of pregnancy is the same as if you were using the pill as long as you’re not having your period. After that the rate of pregnancy increases, but if you’re not having your period chances are still pretty minimal. On the La Leche League website they have a whole article that talks about how to use breastfeeding as a form of birth control.
I’m on my fourth pregancy and never got pregnant while I was breastfeeding even though I was hit and miss with the pill and/or condoms. With my third child I didn’t use anything but breastfeeding for birth control and I didn’t get pregnant until 2/3 months after I weaned him and he was 18 months before I could get him to stop wanting to nurse! My other two were a little over a year old when I weaned them. Once your baby starts sleeping through the night you may want to consider other birth control options, but mine never do until I wean them which is probably why breastfeeding works so well for me.
Good Luck!
I dont know what the chances are, but seeing all the women on Y! Answers who have gotten pregnant while breastfeeding, Id say pretty high.
Breastfeeding is not birth control!!!
Breastfeeding exclusively is pretty protective against pregnancy for the 1st 6 months but not 100%. After that, you will need to use another form of BC if you want to continue BF yet not get pregnant.
FYI: Use of IUDs & the Progestin only pill(mini pill) can allow conception but prevent implantation, just something to consider if you are pro-life
Also, Some docs will Rx the regular combo BC pill while BF’ing but you risk decreasing your milk supply
OB/GYN RN
Some time while breastfeeding you will ovulate again. The problem is noone can predict when that will happen. On average it happens about 6 months after a baby is born, but some people are earlier some are later. With my 2 kids I started ovulating 4 weeks after they were born even though I breastfeed exclusively (this was before I was even done healing). My mom was the same way. I have a good friend that decided to use breastfeeding as birthcontrol and now her first 2 children are 10 months apart. My mother in law however never started ovulating again until after her previous baby was over a year. So everyone is different!