GP said I can’t get pregnant while breastfeeding

[Daisieblues]

Hi all.

Have just been the GP for preconception ‘advice’ as my daughter is 13 months old and I haven’t had my cycle return since giving birth.

He told me it’s lactation amenorrhea and pulled this up on google. He said the only thing I can do is stop breastfeeding.

I don’t want to stop feeding yet, any advice please? 🙏

Reduce the amount your nursing?

I got pregnant with my second while still breastfeeding my first. I then continued breastfeeding and was able to tandem feed them which was so cute. Most people found it weird!

EDIT to add: My MIL nearly fell off her chair when we announced our second as she was convinced a breastfeeder couldn’t get pregnant!

Just to correct for anyone else coming across this - it's not that you can't get pregnant while breastfeeding at this stage, but that for you, breastfeeding is still suppressing your cycle. It will come back with time, or you can reduce the amount you are feeding and see if that helps. Mine did not return until my baby was 18 months old and I cut down to 1-2 feeds per 24 hours, but everyone is different.

Well I'm currently 9 months pregnant with a 12 month old and only stopped breastfeeding when my supply dried up at 6 months pregnant 😂

Normally they say LAM is only effective for 1st 6 months as once baby reduces feeds due to eating solids the affect wears off. How often are you still giving milk? Also I BF exclusively and my period returned at 6 weeks so everyone is different. You could also push for your hormone levels to be checked to see where they are at.

I’d love to try to tandem feed. That’s awesome, your little ones are so lucky. Were you feeding a lot when you conceived?

I mentioned tandem feeding to GP but he seems to think it’s basically impossible to conceive in this scenario 🙃 really frustrating !

I got pregnant 4 months pp whilst exclusively bf. Can you cut down to just nights/just wake ups or similar and formula or cows milk the rest of the time?

Thank you for sharing your experience.

you are so right - he just made it seem like it’s basically impossible to conceive if you are breastfeeding. I know this isn’t true but wish GP did!

Thank you for sharing and congratulations !!

It sounds like he was specifically talking about you. Your cycle hasn’t returned and you may very well not be able to get pregnant.

What do you want him to do? This is your body, it’s totally natural and different for everyone. He has explained how it’s affecting you and shown you what it’s called etc.

She’s still feeding multiple times day and night but I’m also at work 3 days a week so we’re barely feeding those days.

I did ask for hormones to be checked and he pretty much brushed me off ☹️

I got pregnant at 38 while feeding a very hungry 9 month old who was still waking in the night for a feed.

I fed all through pregnancy and then tandem fed. It’s not impossible at all, though as every woman’s body is different, it might be preventing it for you.

thank you, you are just as unhelpful as he was 🤨

Are you an older mum @Daisieblues ? As in, is there a rush to conceive? I only ask as my periods didn’t return until approx two years with all 4 children. But this meant nice 3 ish year age gaps which I like.

Oh, and my periods never returned.

I am going to try this as much as possible 🤞 little one is poorly at the minute though she is really wanting her milk 😔

I thought a lot about weaning because I was worried mine wouldn't come back if I didn't, and wanted to try for a second. I decided not to as I would be more upset by weaning earlier than we wanted to, and then not getting pregnant anyway, than I was by waiting a few more months to try. I do recommend thinking it through for you, depends on your age/fertility and the age gap you would like etc so it's very personal. At 13m mine was still a complete milk monster, I day weaned at 15m (like you we were apart for 4 days a week but made up for it when together!), and then fully weaned smoothly and easily at 19m.

This is a bit like saying that pulling out is not effective contraception. It’s true that it has a high failure rate. But no doctor would ever tell a couple to continue the pull out method if they were trying to conceive.

Breast feeding blocks ovulation for an amount of time that varies a lot between women. If you continue feeding, your cycle will eventually come back and as long as you aren’t entering perimenopause, you’ll be fertile again. But no one can tell you how long that will take. Could be quite soon or it could take until your child weans of their own accord.

You just have to choose. Are you ok with waiting longer to conceive but continuing to breastfeed on demand or do you want to conceive as soon as possible even if that means reducing or stopping breastfeeding?

The issue is there is massive variation between individual women. Some women find their cycle returns almost immediately. Mine didn't return until I stopped bf at 15 months, it can be longer for those that carry on. Sometimes women can conceive before their cycle returns, sometimes they can't. No real reason just different hormonal sensitivity.

Whichever way there isn't anything you or the GP can do short of reducing or stopping bf (particularly if you can lengthen time between feeds).

Doctors aren’t magic. What do you actually want him to do? He has told you how to solve this stop breastfeeding or start cutting it down.

What do you actually want? Just because you don’t like that answer. This is your body. Sometimes this is how they work.

I’m 26, we are just very keen for a second 😣 glad to hear it worked out for you 😊

I definitely got pregnant twice whilst breastfeeding.

Have you lost a lot of weight? How often are you feeding? Can you cut back rather than stop? Mine were on twice a day by a year, and then cut back to mornings only before they just decided to stop.

Tell that to my cousin and a friend who both have two kids less than a year apart, exclusively breastfeeding without period returning…

That just means you got pregnant on your first cycle post partum.

If you want to optimise your chances of conceiving you need to cut down on the frequency of feeds. If you're not in a hurry to conceive, keep going. That's basic science, not a duff GP.

He told me I’d have to stop breastfeeding. That was it. If he’d given further (any) advice I would’ve appreciated it.