Is breastfeeding an effective contraceptive?!

[Annie75]

Don't mean to sound stupid, but reading in Caroline Deacon's book and it says that scientific studies show it offers same protection as mainstream contraception if you breastfeed exclusively at least every six hours.

Anyone relied on this method? I'm feeding at least every 4 hours - often more - and would prefer a natural method if it works!

I think you if you started a thread asking people if the pill/condoms etc will definately stop you getting pregnant then you will get as many people telling you how they were let down by it as you have here. No method is 100% but exclusive breastfeeding is meant to be quite a good one. I think dummies, bottles etc would interfere with it though.

I ovulated after the first time DD slept 6 hours at night without a feed. She was 8 months old.

eagle, i would speak to your GP or family planning clinic pronto

especially as you are not exclusively breastfeeding, you cannot rely on it as contraception

speak to someone today if possible

Just been to the local chemist & spoke to the pharmacist. She says the morning-after pill is safe to take while breastfeeding, and I should take it since there's a chance I could get pregnant. So I've just taken the tablet to be on the safe side.
Thanks for your replies.

welcome

I know very, very few mums in the UK who breastfeed in such a manner as to provide good protection against pregnancy. I think you have to have LOTS of contact with your baby to pick up on all their feeding cues, co-sleep and of course no dummies/teats etc. This is how I breastfed - basically every two or three hours (at least) round the clock. Or at least I think those were the sort of gaps I was leaving - I'm not entirely sure because I'm not the sort of person to notice exactly how many times my baby fed or for how long. I do know that sometimes I was feeding every hour - and that's with a four month old! Anyway - point being it worked for me - I've never started menstruating again until at least 8 months after each baby.

Have to say, I've wondered if body mass index makes a difference on this one. Women in most traditional cultures are probably carrying about two stone less fat than your average Western mum. I bet fat affects the ability of bf to suppress ovulation (isn't it all about oestrogen?). Wouldn't you think?

We're trying for another baby but nothing is happening. I don't know how much of that is the breastfeeding but I wouldn't rely on it if I didn't want to be pregnant.

NO in answer to OP

i just think that if you don;t want to chance a very small age gap, you need to take more precautions than exclusive breastfeeding, i know 2 or 3 people in RL who have had 12 month or less age gaps .

anyone who is not quiet certain that they want another baby should take steps to have adequate contraception, bearing in mind some methods are far more effective than others

Don't think it is all that reliable. I my DS bf 2 hourly day and night for many months (can't remember how many, too long ago), yet my periods came when he was 16 weeks.

I think it probably depends alot on how your body. My period didn't return until I really cut down on feeding at night (when DD was over a year old), even though I wasn't feeding much during the day. On the other hand other people exclusively breast feed and their period returns within weeks of giving birth.

There are quite a few threads on children self-weaning when their mother is pregnant with next child because of change in taste of milk, so for these people presumably breast feeding not a contraceptive!

13 weeks pregnant, was breastfeeding every three and a half hours at conception.

No way i'm bf ds 2 a day and i'm pregnant

I b/f DD1 exclusively, periods returned within 3 months and I was pregnant again when she was 7 months old.

So no, I wouldn't rely on it!