There is an opinion that with breastfeeding it is impossible to become pregnant. However, it is not. The probability of pregnancy during lactation in the absence of menstruation is at least small, but there is.
It is believed that to recover from childbirth and the onset of a new pregnancy, the female body must rest from 3 to 5 years. there is also another common opinion that it is impossible to get pregnant during breastfeeding.
Yet there are many families in children - the weather, in which the second child was a pleasant surprise. So is it possible to get pregnant with lactation?
Lactational amenorrhea
After giving birth, a colossal hormonal restructuring takes place in the body of a young mother. Other changes include lactational amenorrhea. This is a condition in which a woman does not have menstruation and ovulation for some time.
Lactational amenorrhea - The normal physiological state of a woman during breastfeeding. During this period of time, the main process, ovulation, is deleted from the menstrual cycle, and it is impossible to get pregnant without it. Its duration depends on individual characteristics, the correctness of breastfeeding and related disorders in the body. For some women, menstruation begins a couple of months after giving birth, but there are those who enjoy their absence for more than a year.
In the period of lactational amenorrhea, the chance of getting pregnant is only 2%, but under certain conditions this is enough to give rise to a new life.
When breastfeeding is organized correctly, menstruation resumes on average within 1 year after delivery. Nevertheless, the body of each woman is unique, so that menstruation can come both a couple of months, and 1.5 years after the birth of a child.
Another important point: the first ovulation after childbirth sometimes occurs before the onset of menstruation, so a woman may well become pregnant during breastfeeding.
When such a protection method "doesn't work"
In the first six months after childbirth, if a woman breast-feeds her baby exclusively, the possibility of pregnancy is negligible. Nevertheless, this method of protection is not 100% reliable.
The possibility of becoming pregnant with lactation increases in the following cases:
- the child is applied to the chest less often than once every couple of hours;
- at night they feed less than 4 times;
- feeding was selected according to the regimen, and not according to demand, while the mother controls the time of sucking and takes away the breast before the baby releases it;
- the baby is doped with water, fed with mixtures, they begin to feed at the age of less than six months;
- long breaks in the process of breastfeeding occur;
- mom rarely picks up the baby in her arms, does not practice joint sleep.
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Each of these factors increases the chance of becoming pregnant during lactation. If the family, in principle, is not against the appearance of the second crumbs, this method has a place to be.
If another pregnancy is not desired, then it is better to choose a more reliable method of contraception, but first you need to consult a doctor about their compatibility with breastfeeding.
Symptoms of pregnancy during lactation
Not so rare are cases when women who have not yet had menstruation after giving birth suddenly find out about their new pregnancy. Moreover, this is not happening for a short time, since the delay in menstruation is taken for continuing lactational amenorrhea. This situation may occur if a woman has not become familiar with all the conditions, the observance of which reduces the chance of becoming pregnant during lactation to almost zero.
Given that conception is possible even before the resumption of menstruation, all nursing mothers should find out the main symptoms of pregnancy during breastfeeding:
- A cheerful, playful, healthy child suddenly refuses to breast - if mom is pregnant again, the taste of her milk changes, and the baby may not like it.
- A sharp decrease in the amount of milk caused by the restructuring of the body to bear another baby.
- Swelling, tenderness of the chest without visible damage.
- If the period after delivery has already been several times, and again disappeared.
- Weakness, malaise, nausea, vomiting. drawing back pain, frequent urination.
Any of these symptoms is a reason to do a pregnancy test and go to a gynecologist. The most important thing is not to worry if the pregnancy is confirmed. After all, it is quite possible that a new life was born right now not by chance.
We also read: Lactational amenorrhea: pregnancy protection method
Natalya Petrukhina, a specialist in women's health and natural family planning, answers the question: “is it possible to become pregnant with breastfeeding?”
