AIBU - fertility clinic have told me to stop breastfeeding my first child

[moreworkandhope]

is this right? they say I have to stop bf 4-6 months before I start treatment for my second child.

I've already experienced, numerous times from numerous health professionals, how shockingly behind the times and COMPLETELY INCORRECT they can be, is this another example?

I'm running out of fertility fast but don't want to stop bf my first child, it would make my life loads more stressful to deny her what she wants and give up the only proper relaxation time I have.

I agree with some pp a lot of drugs/hormones can be passed on through breastfeeding so I would check if it's due to that? No doctor I know minds you asking questions so if your not sure go back and ask for reasons once your know why it's up to you what you decide

ReallyTired - actually, yes he would reply. He advises mums to contact him if they have any issues that require advice (some of this is covered on his factsheets on his website so you're advised to check the website first). He often speaks about the misinformation that goes around about breastfeeding. It would be worthwhile for the OP to contact him - what has she got to lose? She is entitled to get an all-round medical opinion first before she decides what is the right option for her and her baby.

Jack Newman is a paediatrian and advocate of breastfeeding. It's not a breastfeeding advocacy issue.

The question is whether breastfeeding will stop the drugs from working. It's a question that needs a fertility specialist to answer. The fact that the clinic want her to wean a couple of months before starting the drugs sounds like the issue is making sure that the op hormone levels are right for treatment.

I gave no idea if this help, but I found s blog by a woman in the same situation.

mythnomore.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/facing-ivf-and-dont-want-to-wean-your.html

babydustdiaries.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/breastfeeding-through-fertility-treatments-ivf-and-fet/

I am sorry if it's crass, but are there alternatives to IVF that don't involve weaning?

I was told to stop breastfeeding before starting fertility treatment second time around. I did. I was also told giving blood at this time was not a good idea either. So I didn't do that.

I was not successful in my attempts to get pregnant again. But I am glad I gave it my best shot.

reallytired the 'baby dust' blog is interesting. It was sad my giving up early (DD was a year) but looking at the blog I was in the need to wean category, so I did the right thing even if it didn't result in a pregnancy, good to know at least! (We adopted so I am no longer sad about all the failed attempts.)

Did it not occur to you to ask the clinic to explain the medical basis for their instruction that you stop bf?

My clinic asked me to stop and have 2 periods before starting treatment. They didn't want any risk of the drugs affecting the breastfeeding baby.

Makes sense surely as effects fertility and you want best chance. Good luck by the way and hope you get baby 2 very quickly.

I donated eggs when my DS1 was 15 months. I had to stop BF when he was 10 months, so I could start the process. I was told it was because they have to monitor your hormone levels in advance and also that the drugs are not good for the bfing baby. I started the treatment about 10 weeks later.

You might as well be shocked that they expect you not to be on the pill while having IVF.

Well, yes

And I'm sure it's very interesting that some women get pregnant while breastfeeding. So do some women while taking the pill correctly or with an up-to-date IUD in place.

None of those women would be seeking fertility treatment, would they.

I got pregnant breast feeding confused my first wasn't even that old.

So do women taking the pill and women with a coil - just because one person gets pregnant doesn't mean it doesn't reduce your fertility.

Those who got pregnant naturally while breastfeeding - you weren't taking fertility meds to stimulate your ovaries, were you?

So the point is moot, no?

When you're stimming you'll have your bloods done at the start of the cycle to check your hormones

Prolactin is affected by breastfeeding

If you're doing IUI rather than IVF and you had to cancel a cycle due to hyperstimulation then making the response to drugs even more unpredictable by elevating your prolactin levels doesn't make a lot of sense

Also even if you weren't single, most NHS trusts wouldn't treat you because you are have a living child already

Breastfeeding is not a contraceptive after 6 months and is only a reliable contraceptive provided the other conditions for LAM are met before 6 months. Get your facts right before making statements like that

I've got my facts right, its you that doesn't understand the basics.
Breastfeeding can and does reduce fertility.
Seeking fertility treatment and then doing something to reduce your fertility is idiotic.
End of story.

There's a massive difference between seeking fertility treatment because you have fertility issues/problems or because your only problem is lack of partner (as is OP's case).

OP head to a specialist fertility board (not sure what the protocol on naming other boards here is). It's getting a bit pitchforks at dawn here .

It is definitely possible to get pregnant while exclusively breastfeeding, and I believe that most of the drugs used are ok to take while feeding. The main problem is that. Reastfeeding does negatively impact on your fertility so the treatment isn't being given the best chance to work. If feeding but having periods you may still not be ovulating, but even if you have regular ovulating cycles you are not at peak fertility as feeding impacts on your luteal phase, and your uterine lining isn't as ripe and ready for implantation as it would be if not feeding... as I said this doesn't mean you cannot get pregnant, but it does reduce the chances.

Only you can weigh up the relative importance of continuing to feed your first child, against a longer gap before your second, or having treatment but with a reduced chance of success. Your fertility specialist may be able to give you a better idea of how big a reduction in your chance of success you are looking at to help you decide.

YABU

I don't quite get what the issue is- if you are involved with a fertility clinic, presumably you are looking to become pregnant in the near future?

Breastfeeding can typically reduce your fertility so it is not unreasonable for the clinic to suggest that you stop BF. This presumably forms part of their advice with respect to improving your chances of falling pregnant.

I fell pregnant ( happy) when DD was 12 weeks old, totally breast fed, and carried on until she was 8 months old and 3 months before DS was born.

Ok - coming at this from a fairly niche personal angle (extended breastfeeder with no1, secondary infertility, breastfeeding peer counsellor)

No breastfeeding isn't a 100% reliable contraception, yes women DO get pregnant whilst breastfeeding.

Similarly, yes breastfeeding CAN impair fertility. It doesn't for ALL women but for many it does.

But for a woman with substandard fertility, if you're serious about treatment you need to do everything you can to maximise what is an expensive and invasive procedure.

For YOU the effect your breastfeeding has on your fertility cannot accurately be measured, so the simplest recourse is to stop breastfeeding and remove the chance that it MIGHT have a negative impact on your treatment.

We're not talking about 'falling pregnant' (ie naturally) and BF so is a moot point.

People having fertility treatment will be taking drugs to boost their fertility and/or hormone treatment. The more invasive methods (IVF) will require regular blood tests to assess hormone levels which then decide what type and quantity of drugs. BF can affect hormone levels therefore risk giving false information to the fertility specialists therefore putting at risk a cycle or lowering chances of success. Expensive. Then there is the separate issue of said drugs entering the baby via BF.

If your period has returned and it's purely a drugs-in-bm issue, speak to Dr wendy jones at bfn (I think?) - she is a pharmacologist with special interest in breastfeeding and has given me advice before. I found her email online, but can't find it in my inbox now.

If OP is having IVF because she is single, I see nothing saying she has below average fertility?

Breastfeeding increases prolactin which can cause miscarriages if you already have a high/borderline levels. You really need to discuss this with your specialist though, as it could be for another reason.

Having said this, however, if you want another baby then you must do what the clinic recommends. Formula won't hurt your baby, no matter what the breastfeeding police tell you.

Aha!

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OP doesn't have to have below average fertility for breastfeeding to affect her chances if she's having fertility treatment

Prolactin affects your response to the drugs

OP has already said a previous IUI cycle was cancelled due to hyperstimulation

So elevated prolactin is going to make response to drugs even more unpredictable