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? 🙏

It's not incorrect though. You can't get pregnant without a cycle. Women who get pregnant "before their period came back" just got pregnant on their first cycle. They would've gotten a period two weeks later, if they hadn't conceived.

The only thing you can do is wait it out a bit longer and see if your cycle returns soon, or stop/cut down on breastfeeding.

Tell that to my now almost 3 year old! As others have said, the “contraceptive” effect of breastfeeding wanes after 6 months when they’re less reliant (although I felt I was still feeding my oldest 30 times a day when I fell pregnant again). It’s definitely possible!!

For me, reducing feeds wasn't enough. I had to stop completely to get my cycle back. It still took three months to return (I stopped feeding at 13 months) and then the first cycle I miscarried as my luteal phase was still too short from the prolactin suppressing my cycle. So for you it sounds like that may also be the case given you are already having long breaks in feeding with work.

You need to have a few hours not feeding overnight really for a few days - when my ds was 14 months he dropped to two wakes overnight and that brought my period back and I was pregnant pretty much immediately. Prolactin is highest in the early am so that's the best time to stop!

@ReadingSoManyThreads , Your GP is a knob to tell you to stop breastfeeding. SO many women fall pregnant whilst breastfeeding because their knobhead GPs have told them they "can't get pregnant whilst breastfeeding".
I doubt the GPs are actually telling women they "can't get pregnant whilst breastfeeding". Anyone who actively does not want a pregnancy should use contraception when having sex.

This. I got pregnant on the first egg I released after giving birth to my first, as I was LH testing so spotted it. But if I hadn't the first I'd have known about my cycle returning would've been my period. As it was I miscarried anyway so could've saved the test strips!

You’re nine months pregnant with a twelve-month-old? That must be a medical miracle! 🤣

If telling you why your cycle hasn’t returned is ‘unhelpful’, what do you expect your GP to do? Your periods have not yet returned and you’re still breastfeeding. There’s a direct correlation there. If you wish to conceive you have the option of cutting down on breastfeeding and waiting for your hormones start to recover. Testing your hormone levels at this stage is pretty pointless - it’s not like testing the hormones of a non lactating woman where if they are found to be low in particular hormones such as estrogen or progesterone HRT can be prescribed.

Breastfeeding suppresses ovulation. Some women find that when they aren’t exclusively breastfeeding they ovulate others find that they don’t. In your case it looks like it’s still suppressing.

In many cases pregnancy if it does happen dries up the milk. So if you don’t want to stop feeding then maybe just adopt a wait and see approach.

thank you everyone for your replies.

I’m getting too many to reply to now. But just want to make clear yes the doctor said my only option was to stop breastfeeding (entirely). this was not tailored advice based on anything I told him other than what I’ve said here (13 months pp, no period, still breastfeeding).

So his argument was as I am breastfeeding I won’t get pregnant. and no he didn’t suggest cutting down, night weaning etc. maybe I’m naive but I was kind of hoping he could give me more advice then just to stop.

And yes I am aware this is not scientifically accurate / correct information. Women can and do get pregnant while breastfeeding, but it can delay the return of your cycle and therefore fertility.

My first child was 18 months old when my cycle came back. I had five periods before I got pregnant with my second. I was breastfeeding the whole time. I would’ve liked them closer together tbh, but actually this age gap has worked out fine. My mum swore I wouldn’t be able to conceive while breastfeeding. Absolutely not true. I reckon your body knows when you’re ready to have another child. Maybe you just haven’t fully recovered yet and your body is doing you a favour?

Also, don’t get too excited about tandem feeding. My eldest hated the taste of my milk once I got pregnant.

Oh trust me, MANY GPs have told women this. And the problem is, many people TRUST them, so don't think contraception is required.

I wouldn’t be here if that was the case! My mum was told this and I was born less than a year after my older sibling.

DC3 says otherwise. I didn't have a period after having DD2, just got pregnant, was still breastfeeding up to 20 weeks pregnant when DD2 decided around 17 months old that she was done. Up until that point she was fed when she wanted it which was at least two-three times a day.

With DC1 and DC2 I got a period a few weeks after completely stopping breastfeeding (3 months and 10 months). DC3 I breastfed for 22 months, my period came back just 2 months prior.

Well that’s nonsense. I got pregnant with DC2 while breastfeeding DC1. After DC2 was born, I had my first period at about 7 weeks - and DC2 was fully beast fed.

Maybe direct your GP to MiLC-E.
It's the educational group for doctors around breastfeeding. LAM is unusual past 6 months and even then it generally only works if you exclusively BF, never miss a feed and don't use dummies. At 13m pp the GP has gone with the "easy" answer of blaming all issues on breastfeeding. Tandem feeding is entirely possible.

Are you thin? Some women have success by significantly increasing the calories they consume for a shortish period. Your body may believe you don’t have enough food to sustain nursing and a pregnancy.

I don't think there really is any other advice to give you. I mean yes it's a myth that breastfeeding is a totally reliable form of contraception, people do, so obviously can, get pregnant while breastfeeding. If YOU aren't having periods though, for you breastfeeding, is blocking conception! There is no other advice to give you.

I still can’t believe medics still spout this. I found out I was pregnant with dd 2 on Ist dd birthday. I was given no advice on breastfeeding, going fourth with 1st child while growing baby 2.

Ok maybe it isn't totally reliable that you can't get pregnant when you aren't having periods, but if YOUR body isn't getting pregnant, then it isn't. Just because not everyone is unable to get pregnant while breastfeeding, it doesn't mean you must be able to.

My periods came back when DS1 was four months old. When he was seven months I got pregnant with DS2. I was still almost exclusively breastfeeding. The trigger to ovulation returning, I think, was cutting back on night feeds because DS1 started sleeping through from around twelve weeks. Something to do with a hormone that's produced at night I'm sure I read - but don't quote me on that.

I know I couldn't get pregnant until my cycles returned, which was between 13-20 months after each child. It's natures way of spacing the babies, though I would never advise anyone to rely on that and say they should use birth control. It doesn't work for everyone and is not to be relied on if you don't want a baby at that moment. For most of mine I had one cycle then the next one was on the way.

I was prepared to tandem feed but never ended up doing that. Apparently the milk can change and reduce when pregnant and that can result in the baby self-weaning. My first did that and I didn't try with the others and slowly weaned them by mid-pregnancy.

I was exclusively breastfeeding my second child and fell pregnant with my third. Second was 6 months old when youngest was conceived.

If you can try missing a couple of nights of breastfeeding. This was enough to kick start my period again each time (I was working one night shift a month and that time away seemed to be enough to break it).

I still tandem fed successfully and didnt need to stop breastfeeding.