Becoming Pregnant While Still Nursing
By Gwen Morrison
If you are currently breastfeeding your baby and are considering trying to get pregnant again, there are a few things you need to know.
Ann Calandro, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and registered nurse from the Piedmont Medical Center in South Carolina, says the best chance of conceiving while breastfeeding is if the baby is older than 6 months, is not nursing exclusively and the mother has already resumed her menstrual cycle.
During breastfeeding, your body produces higher levels of the hormone prolactin, which suppresses ovulation.
If you haven’t resumed your period, you’re probably wondering when you can expect it to start. Every woman’s experience is unique. “I have known women who are nursing around the clock whose periods return three months postpartum, while other women who are nursing once a day don’t menstruate until their babies are over a year old,” Calandro says.
Ivana D’Best of Los Angeles, Calif., didn’t start menstruating until her first child was 23 months old. “It was discouraging,” she says. “All my friends were trying to conceive when their kids were 14 months old. [My husband and I] tried, but we knew nothing would happen until I started having my periods again.”
Probability of Conceiving
During breastfeeding, your body produces higher levels of the hormone prolactin, which suppresses ovulation. This alone reduces your chances of getting pregnant while breastfeeding to an estimated 1 to 2 percent. The percentage increases throughout the first year, raising the chance of conception to 6 percent after six months.
There are some ways to improve your chances of becoming pregnant again while still breastfeeding. Keep in mind, though, that these tips are intended for older babies and toddlers who do not derive the bulk of their nutrition from breast milk.
- Introduce more solid foods as an additional supplement to breast milk if the child is at the right age.
- Through the night, try not to feed before six hours have lapsed.
- Stretch out the intervals between the day feedings to more than four hours.
Even as the months pass and your menstrual cycle returns, remember that the elevated levels of prolactin in your body can still alter your cycle and hinder conception.
Understanding Your Menstrual Cycle
To understand how your cycle works, think of it as Part 1: before ovulation; and Part 2: after ovulation. During an average 28-day cycle, the following changes occur in your body:
- Day one is the first day that bleeding begins. This usually lasts somewhere between three to six days. By the seventh day, the eggs in the ovaries start to ripen. This is caused by the release of the hormone FSH (follicle stimulating hormone). The uterus starts to thicken to prepare for a fertilized egg. After a few days, the ripest egg is released. In a normal 28-day cycle, this happens on day 14.
- Around day 14, the egg travels down the fallopian tube toward the uterus. At this point, if a single male sperm fertilizes it, the egg may attach to the lining of the uterus, and pregnancy will begin. This stage is called implantation. If fertilization does not occur, the egg will start to break apart. At about day 25, the hormone levels decrease and this causes the uterus to break down and the lining is shed in a menstrual period.
The most fertile time in your cycle depends on a few things, such as when you ovulate. The chances of getting pregnant are greater during the six-day phase that ends with ovulation. This is because sperm can live inside a woman’s body for five to seven days, while the egg lives about one day.
Charting Your Cycle
There are changes going on in your body that help you to predict when you are most fertile. Keeping track of these changes will aid in determining when you are ovulating. Below are three methods of charting:
- Temperature method: Take your temperature every morning before rising. On the day of ovulation you will discover a rise in your temperature by 0.4 degrees to 0.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Don’t forget a single day, as consistency is key to this method. Your body temperature will remain higher from the day of ovulation until your period begins.
- Cervical Mucous Method: This method involves close examination of the changes in your cervical mucous. During the first part of your cycle, you must examine this daily until you are sure you have ovulated. A few days prior to ovulation, normally cloudy, tacky mucous will change into clear and slippery. This indicates that you are at the most fertile stage in your cycle.
- Calendar Method: If your periods are consistent every month, then you may be able to predict ovulation using this simple method. Begin charting on a calendar your menstrual cycles. Keep in mind that the egg is released consistently between 14 and 16 days before the onset of menstruation.
Keeping track of your fertility is a good idea. Just remember that you ovulate prior to menstruating. This would account for those surprise pregnancies while breastfeeding that you’re bound to hear about.
Marrion Barnes of London, Ontario, Canada, was surprised to learn that there are reduced chances of conceiving while breastfeeding. She became pregnant with her second son while still nursing her first. At that time, in the 1950s, mothers were often told that there was virtually no chance of getting pregnant as long as you were breastfeeding. Barnes’ son was a 4-month-old infant when she discovered she was expecting again.
So while you don’t have to wean your baby to become pregnant, your conception chances are reduced as long as you are breastfeeding. “A nursing mother who is eager to become pregnant in the early months after giving birth may have to prematurely end or modify her breastfeeding schedule,” Calandro says.
It’s important to remember all these factors when you have an expectation for child spacing. The more determined you are to have your children close together, the more aggressive your approach will have to be.
