This following information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.
As a new mom, you may find yourself facing many decisions from a new perspective. The birth control choice that was right for you before pregnancy may not be the right choice after having a baby, especially if you are nursing. For answers about birth control after baby, including when to start and what options are best while breastfeeding, I considered both my doctor's advice and the experiences shared by Circle of Moms members.
Typically, doctors advise holding off on intercourse until you have a checkup with your ob-gyn about six weeks after giving birth. At this visit, your doctor will evaluate how you are healing and whether it is safe to begin having sex again. It's important to give your body a break, and as Circle of Moms member Kristin G. says: "Now is a really good time to talk to your OB/Gyn about the options available and do a little research on your own. Also, talk with your husband about the size of family you think you might want and how far apart you might want them to be... You need to let yourself heal. You've got time to make these choices."
It is true that some women heal quickly and feel ready for sex as soon as two to four weeks after delivery. Other moms say it took months before they felt ready to have intercourse again, especially after a difficult vaginal birth or C-section. One mom named Phara delivered via C-section and felt she needed some extra time: "Even though I had a C-section, we waited three months. I wanted to give my body a rest after all it had been through!"
One thing is for sure: whether you wait three weeks or three months, it is possible to get pregnant after giving birth. That's why it's important to talk to your partner about using protection if you don't want another baby right away.
If you are nursing your newborn, there are some special considerations when it comes to choosing the right birth control method. You want a proven, effective way to prevent pregnancy without decreasing your milk supply or causing your baby to ingest anything harmful. Your main choices fall into two categories: nonhormonal birth control or hormonal birth control.
Nonhormonal Options
Hormonal Options
There is a great deal of debate over whether or not nursing your baby is birth control in itself. It is a fact that breastfeeding can delay ovulation, and there is a practice known as lactational amenorrhea that women have used for centuries to prevent pregnancy. Circle of Moms member Sara J. outlines the method very well: "You cannot supplement at all with anything. You must feed on demand, day and night. Ecological breastfeeding works best to prevent the return of fertility. Moms that practice ecological breastfeeding co-sleep, feed on demand day and night, no pacifiers or bottles, and usually delay the introduction of solids."
Even if you are able to adhere to these strict methods and delay ovulation, you will begin to ovulate again at some point in time. Skipping a feeding here and there, along with your baby's natural progression to solids, will put an end to the birth control aspect of breastfeeding. Will you know when that happens? As Melissa J. says, "the reason it is not reliable birth control is because you never know when you will start ovulating again."
Which birth control method has worked best for you since becoming a mom?
This article is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.