Contraception and breastfeeding

[Etak15]

After having dc 4 six months ago and exclusively breastfeeding now he's gradually getting into his food and sleeping for longer stretches at night, I am thinking I need another method of contraception apart from breastfeeding It has worked for me previously and I have a 2 yr gap between all of them using no contraceptives breastfed others till 18 month ish, but before I knew that I wouldn't mind if I became pregnant - now I would mind!! Any recommendations? And why are some contraceptives unsuitable for breastfeeding is it harmful for baby or does it affect milk quality?

You want a progesterone only method. Your milk may dry up if you use the combined pill. If you haven't used a progesterone only method before it may be worth trying the PO pill first to see if it suits you. A longer acting method is more protective against pregnancy though, as it decreases the capacity for human error (eg forgetting to take a pill). For reliable information look at patient.co.UK and the family planning association websites.