Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Flip

Original poster

doh! Has anyone taken the morning after pill whilst bfing? Does it reduce supply?

12 replies

laughorcry · 07/04/2011 12:48

Have had a bit of a disaster and decided to take the MAP just in case. I'm exclusively bfing my 3.5 month old and have read that the morning after pill can reduce milk supply.

Does anyone have any experience of this, or any tips to keep supply up?

I fed just before taking it and am going to try to get the baby to take some expressed milk for the next feed, but will need to start feeding directly again pretty soon as she is not great with a bottle.

OP posts:

BertieBotts · 07/04/2011 12:54

Just keep feeding her - at 3.5 months it's unlikely to make too much difference. The way to stimulate supply is to feed as much as the baby asks for. If she wants to feed more than normal, that's fine, she's just trying to increase it again :) even if you feel like you have no milk left you do - you shouldn't need to give her any expressed milk. Supply isn't as fragile as we are led to believe!

Also just as she's 3.5 months old - do you know about the floppy breast thing coming soon which nobody ever seems to tell you about?

BertieBotts · 07/04/2011 12:56

Sorry, I worded that horribly. I meant - at 3-4 months ish your supply will regulate, you'll stop being engorged between feeds, stop leaking, boobs will feel floppy - this is normal and doesn't mean your milk has run out. But because it often coincides with totally normal 3-4 month old fussiness, lots of people naturally panic and think they have run out of milk. It's not the case :)

JoyceBarnaby · 07/04/2011 13:00

I just wanted to wholeheartedly agree with everything Bertie has said! I wish that someone had told me about the floppy breast thing!! Also agree that supply is nowhere near as fragile as we are led to believe. I'm sure at 3.5 months you have nothing to worry about.

Original poster

laughorcry · 07/04/2011 13:01

Thanks for that Bertie. I was thinking of the expressed milk to try to avoid giving milk that was too full of the morning after pill - perhaps that is a bit over the top?

Thanks also for the floppy breast warning! dd is baby number 3 but I seem to have forgotten pretty much everything from the first two .

OP posts:

Original poster

laughorcry · 07/04/2011 13:03

x-posts about floppy breasts! Thanks also to JoyceB.

OP posts:

BertieBotts · 07/04/2011 13:22

No, don't worry - there is no problem with the hormones passing through (they are just synthetic versions of hormones we produce while pregnant and many people tandem feed). The only reason it's not advised is the small risk of it affecting supply.

They should have told you this in the consultation though, not very good of them not to mention it at all! Did they even ask if you were breastfeeding?

Original poster

laughorcry · 07/04/2011 13:31

No they didn't (despite me having the baby with me) - I told the pharmacist and asked whether it was safe, but the only info she was able to find on her computer was that the half life of the main ingredient was 26 hours.

I don't live in the UK, though, so may be that different rules apply. She did ask some questions about why it was that I needed it which I found a little bizarre.

The expressed milk thing came from looking at the levonelle website which suggests that there is no problem with bfing and taking the tablet, but goes on to say that you should feed first and then take the tablet and that you might want to give a bottle for the next feed.

OP posts:

BertieBotts · 07/04/2011 14:43

I suppose that's covering their backs. I'm on the combined pill which is the same hormone wise and my doctor (who seems very clued up) says that it's supply which is the issue, especially if prescribing at e.g the 6 week check. My DS is 2.5 years though so at 3 months it's up to you, but if it was me I wouldn't worry about it.

Original poster

laughorcry · 07/04/2011 15:17

I think that must be right (about covering their backs). I was pretty amazed to see any sort of medication which said it was safe for breastfeeding and I doubt that there is any significant difference between continuing feeding regardless and missing one feed.

Good to know about what your doctor said and hopefully supply will be OK. Thanks again.

OP posts:

Tarlia · 07/04/2011 18:09

Floppy breast thing....!?!?

BertieBotts · 09/04/2011 22:49

See my post immediately after that, Tarlia! :)

Tarlia · 10/04/2011 14:13

Oh, I have no idea how I missed that! Doh!!

Actually, funnily enough that has happened to me already over the last couple of weeks, DS is nearly 9 weeks. I did panic and had to express just to check..120ml spurted out rather quickly, so panic was over!

Phew, thank god they are not going to get floppier

Flip