"You're more fertile now than you've ever been in your entire life" surely this is bullshit?

[Dandelionchaser]

When I was on the postnatal ward a few months ago, I was there long enough to hear a lot of discharges done by the same midwife. She told every new mum very seriously and emphatically "you are more fertile now than you have been in your entire life" to lead in to a conversation about contraception. She seemed to the chief midwife who was telling the others what to do so I would expect her to know what she's talking about but SURELY this is wrong? As far as I'm aware, if you're EBF and your period hasn't returned then you can only get pregnant if you catch that first ovulation and that's really unlikely in the early weeks, you're probably LESS fertile than you've ever been. Even if you don't breastfeed though I don't think you're MORE fertile straight after birth than at other times, are you? Is there evidence for this? I understand emphasising the importance of contraception, and making sure that women are aware at discharge that they CAN get pregnant now. It's really important to get that across because another pregnancy in quick succession is of course possible. But AIBU to think that giving misinformation in order to emphasise the point just treats us like teenagers? I had a different midwife at my own discharge who didn't say this so I never got to challenge it!

I think you need to do some googling on the subject if you emphatically don't believe the midwife.

OP is correct - there is no scientific evidence that a woman is ‘more fertile’ after giving birth.

We don’t magically ovulate weekly or anything like that - which really would increase the odds!

You'd be surprised... The number of pregnancy confirmations I used to do with mothers who had little babies in tow would refute your claim.

You can get pregnant while exclusively breastfeeding even before your periods have returned.

I don't know, my MW told me the same thing. I laughed and told her it took 7 yeas of fertility treatment and intervention to have my first so I don't think I need to worry. I was pregnant by accident after only having sex a handful of times less than 9 months later.

In these scenarios, a woman has caught her first ovulation after pregnancy and were it not for getting pregnant, she would have gone on to have her period two weeks later.

You can ovulate without a period, so there's no way of knowing if you're catching your first ovulation.

Judging by the number of women who are pregnant at their six week check up, she might be on to something. A specialist mother and baby nurse told me something very similar. In some cultures in the past women would routinely have a baby a year and they would be breast feeding because formula wouldn't have been invented.

For a typical healthy female this is quite a rare occurrence. Much more likely that they have indeed caught their first post-pregnancy ovulation 😊

You are correct, it’s nonsense but I think they say it just to hammer home that you can get pregnant again quite quickly after birth in much the same way you could before getting pregnant.

Lactational amenorrhea has a less than 1% chance of pregnancy in the first 6 months according to the WHO if you are exclusively breastfeeding and periods have not returned so for a lot of women they are much less fertile than normal for at least the first few months anyway.

That doesn't make it true though. That proves that it's possible to get pregnant soon after birth. Which it is.

I know a couple of ivf babies due to infertility who then have close in age younger siblings. The doctors were like yes this happens.

I realise there's no evidence for this - but anecdotally the amount of people I know who conceive in the first couple of months after having a baby (even those with previous fertility troubles) seems remarkably high.

Yes of course you can get pg and you may not know your ovulation timing but you are not MORE fertile. You are arguably less fertile as you rarely ovulate immediately after giving birth so if you measure average fertility as how many times you ovulate in a 12 month period from the day you give birth, on average it would be less than 12 times. Therefore it's not going to be the most fertile ever

I know people can have fertility problems before their first baby and then get pregnant quickly with their second. I also know people can get pregnant quickly with their first and need IVF to have their second (me). It doesn't demonstrate that women in general are at their most fertile soon after giving birth!

Believe them. They see women back in 9 months.

Had the midwife said "it's possible to get pg after giving birth and also whilst ebf", I'd believe her. The most fertile ever comment was just hyperbole

I had premature ovarian failure in my early 30's was told I wouldn't conceive. However I did manage to have a baby at 37. Following breast feeding I ovulated 3 or 4 times in the following months before they stopped again permanently. So for me yes I was the most fertile I had ever been following birth.

It’s possible to get pregnant very quickly after giving birth, and some women do. But you’re not in ‘the most fertile period of your life’. For many women, you will be sub fertile for quite a few months after birth, if breastfeeding. Trouble is, you don’t know which group you fall into, hence she is over-egging things for emphasis.

The Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) is a natural and effective form of contraception only under specific conditions. For LAM to be up to 98% effective, all three of the following criteria must be met:

1.
Your baby is less than 6 months old

• After 6 months, the return of ovulation becomes more likely, even if you’re breastfeeding.

2.
You have not had any menstrual bleeding

• Any bleeding after 56 days postpartum that resembles a period (not just spotting) means your fertility may be returning.

3.
You are exclusively or nearly exclusively breastfeeding

This means:

• Breastfeeding at least every 4 hours during the day and every 6 hours at night
• No long gaps between feeds
• Baby is not receiving formula, solid foods, or even water regularly

Well her phrasing is hyperbole, but a simple and probably effective way of drumming home that fertility can return very quickly. You can potentially get pregnant 3 weeks after birth.

Unlikely if exclusively breastfeeding day and night at least every 3 hours but in that postpartum fog probably safer just to give everyone the basic message and ensure they have considered contraception.

It's a known phenomenon

I was breastfeeding my first born and fell pregnant very quickly and if my second son had been on time I’d have had two under 1. There is 1yr and 8 days between them.

I assume it is to hammer home the message that you can get pregnant soon after giving birth (even if EBF).

You see quite a few posts on here from posters surprised they are pregnant so soon after giving birth. So obviously the message that your fertility returns quickly doesn’t get listened to, so may need to over egg it

Very few because the doctors don't check and I know no one from the groups I went to pregnant.