After giving birth there are a lot of women asking can you get pregnant while breastfeeding.
The truth is that there is a lot of contradictory information on the matter so you could get a bit confused.
The truth is that you can, but in some cases breastfeeding could be used as a birth control method.
How to avoid pregnancy while breastfeeding?
There is a kind of birth control that relies solely on breastfeeding. According to the studies, it is possible to prevent a pregnancy this way, but there are some criteria that need to be met to make sure that the method is efficient. In this case the efficiency of the method is of 98%-99.5%.
The criteria that you have to meet to avoid pregnancy while breastfeeding include having a baby that is maximum 6 months old, not to have the menstrual periods yet and the baby should be fed both day and night and he or she should have only breast milk or very little solid food.
Maximizing the period of infertility
The answer to the question can you get pregnant while breastfeeding depends on several different factors, such as the nursing pattern of the baby and the sensitivity of women to the hormones.
Naturally this is something that varies from one woman to the other.
The most important factor regarding pregnancy while breastfeeding is the number of feedings per day.
It is more probable that women become fertile faster if the frequency and the duration of the breastfeeding are reduced. This is especially true if there is a sudden change in the pattern.
Some of the researches regarding the question can you get pregnant while breastfeeding show that if you are nursing during the night the fertility will return later.
Another study proved that the mothers that were separated from the babies but pumped milk had a faster return of fertility in the first 6 months.
Another factor to think about regarding pregnancy while breastfeeding is the moment of introduction of solid foods.
If you have been nursing before the baby got solids and you don’t have your periods yet, or if the transition is slow and you aren’t restricting nursing, you could have a longer period of infertility.
Ecological breastfeeding
When asking can you get pregnant while breastfeeding there is another thing to think about: ecological breastfeeding. This way the breastfeeding is more effective. For this you should keep the baby close to your body and you should be breastfeeding during both day and night.
The women who are interested in pregnancy while breastfeeding should know regarding infertility that the period lasts longer if they use breastfeeding as a method of comforting the baby. You could also be breastfeeding while you lay down so that you could have naps during the day or night.
If the baby doesn’t have any pacifiers or bottles the breastfeeding could be more effective when asking if you can get pregnant while breastfeeding.
This is because the baby gets used to the nipple and won’t be distracted by the bottle or pacifier. It is known that some of the babies don’t want breast milk after they get the bottle.
Contradictions
As you can see, some of the studies show regarding pregnancy while breastfeeding that you could use breastfeeding as a kind of birth control. Nonetheless it is also known that although women don’t have their period yet they could already be ovulating so it is possible that they will get pregnant.
If you ask other people can you get pregnant while breastfeeding they may tell you that in this case it is more likely to have twins.
