Breastfeeding and contraception failure

[ShadowFall]

DH and I have been using condoms as contraception, but we've just had a condom failure.

DS2 is 14 weeks old, he's exclusively breastfed, and my periods haven't started again yet.

I'm not sure if I should be worrying about this causing an unplanned pregnancy or not - is it true that breastfeeding reduces fertility or is that just an old wives tale?

It's less likely, especially if still bf v frequently, but it's still very possible to get pregnant in this situation. Breastfeeding is not a method of contraception.

One of my best mates has 15 months between her children for this reason...

It's true. If your baby is under 6 months, is bf exclusively and round the clock, and if your periods have not retuned then you are unlikely to conceive.

The snag is that even if you bf a small baby exclusively and round the clock (as I did) your periods can still return before 6 months (as mine did) and then you are unprotected (and could have been at risk 2 weeks before the first period).

You can take MAP whilst BFing - if another pg this soon would be disastrous, it might be worth getting to a doctor first thing tomorrow.