Breastfeeding: Can your prolactin levels be high enough to prevent pregnancy even if your menses have returned?
I know all about breastfeeding and how it suppresses ovulation while your prolactin levels are high (especially while baby is exclusively breastfed). I'm currently nursing my 18 month old son. My menses returned 8 months post partum. But I believe they returned because I followed some bad advice and put my son on a feeding schedule. Since, I have started feeding him on demand again, whenever he needs it. He eats very little solids.
I'm curious if there is any research or info out there regarding this- even though my menses have returned could my prolactin levels still be high enough to signal to my body to not support a pregnancy? How high does your prolactin level have to be to suppress ovulation and is there any way to know how high it is?
Thanks- just curious.
SimonL2010-12-09T08:41:55Z
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I know I am not qualified to answer so I won't...but Voila,I have researched the question and I came up with what may be a valid answer. _------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Scientific evidence about fertility while breast feeding is limited and yet the nursing mom needs to know if she can get pregnant - whether the goal is prevention or adding to the family.
In recent years scientific studies have confirmed that breastfeeding delays the return of fertility.
Women's postpartum fertility depends on many factors, some known and some yet to be discovered. These include lactation status and patterns that are dependent on the mother and her nursling while other variables such as the individual hormonal fertility thresholds; are still physiological mysteries.
The individual variations are huge. Statistically, half of all nursing women have a resumption of menses by the tenth postpartum month and a return of ovulation by the eleventh month.
About 19% of lactating mothers will become pregnant by the twelfth month if no contraceptive method is employed.
Many factors influence fertility while breast feeding. Research supports that in a most cases, the more frequently a baby is breastfed, the younger the baby is, and the less sustenance he gets from other sources - the later the mother's periods will return, the later she will be likely to conceive.
The contraceptive effects on fertility while breast feeding can function as a protective barrier against a new, unwanted pregnancy or alternatively present an barrier to bringing a desired new baby into the family. "
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