Has anyone ever told you that breastfeeding can be a contraceptive?
If you’re tired of oral contraceptives, breastfeeding is said to be “a reliable form of birth control.”
Obviously, you have to be nursing in order to use breastfeeding to replace the pill.
BabiesOnline.com shares that “[f]or certain women under certain conditions, it is 98% to 99.5% effective, which is as effective as the pill or condoms for pregnancy prevention.”
What’s this “for certain women under certain conditions” deal?
We want to hear if it’s reliable for all women, not just for some of them.
If you believe this, here is when you know that breastfeeding can be used as birth control…
- If your baby is exclusively breastfed, night and day.
- If your baby is under 6 months of age.
- If your periods have not returned.
Careful about #3, because you can get pregnant (even if you do breastfeed) before your periods return if:
- Your nursing baby is over 6 months old.
- Your baby sleeps throughout the night.
- Your baby is eating solid foods and cow’s milk while consuming your milk.
Sounds too complicated to me. What do you think? Share your thoughts below in the comments.
Breastfeeding Can Be Used As Birth Control IF… [Babies Online]
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It’s of course the OLDEST form of contraception, once calculated to prevent more pregnancies globally than all modern contraception combined (no doubt this is no longer the case).
For women who only want to space their babies and don’t want to use another form of contraception, it’s a pretty good bet. You are right that, of the three criteria, amenorrhea is by the far the most sensitive one. If breastfeeding remains very intense and/or the mother is thin, the risk of pregnancy remains low even beyond six months. Studies suggested LAM could be advised for 9 mo in Rwanda and for a full 12 mo in Bangladesh.