Postpartum Birth Control & Family Planning

This episode covers birth control and family planning after birth and while breastfeeding, including breastfeeding as a form of birth control, as well as hashkafic considerations. 

Comments and feedback on the podcast quality are welcome! This is still so new to me. 🙂

A couple of points that I realize may not have been clear, plus a couple I’d like to add:

• When we talk about IUDs – intrauterine devices – there are two types, progesterone (hormonal) and copper.
  • Many providers will request that a woman avoid intercourse for 1 week before IUD placement (either kind) to make sure that she hasn’t already conceived a pregnancy. This is true for both types of IUD. If a woman is getting an IUD placed in the first 6 months postpartum, is breastfeeding, and a) hasn’t got her period back, or b) is using the mini-pill, there’s less of a concern that she is already pregnant, and the provider may not mention it.
    • If a woman wants to switch to an IUD and is currently using the mini-pill, but is more than 6 months postpartum or has stopped breastfeeding, avoiding intercourse for a week before insertion is a good idea because the mini-pill can be less effective at that point.
  • Thinning of the uterine lining happens only with a progesterone IUD. A woman’s cycle is not affected by a copper IUD; one benefit of a copper IUD is that a women will actually be able to tell how long she “nurses clean” for – nothing else will be influencing the return of her period.
• A woman can begin ovulating/return to fertility before her first period. This is a reason that woman who are “nursing clean” may still choose to use another birth control method, if delaying pregnancy is important to them. Some women just enjoy the benefits of nursing clean while waiting for another pregnancy to naturally occur – and that is obviously totally okay as well! We call that “natural spacing” when discussing family planning. Even after periods return, a woman’s fertility is generally somewhat lower while breastfeeding, and periods can be very irregular or spotting can occur for a number of months. This is actually normal and due to continued fluctuations in hormone levels.
• Women who are breastfeeding should continue to take prenatal vitamins both because of the nutrients they are providing to their nursing infants and to ensure that they have sufficient intake of folic acid if/when they become pregnant again.
  • Cool fact: if you take enough vitamin D as a nursing mother (6400 IU a day), you actually have more vitamin D in your breastmilk, which is important for infant growth and immunity, and don’t need to remember to supplement the baby with drops. (For more information, see this post on Kellymom.com, a wonderful resource for breastfeeding/lactation.)

For more information about BIRTH CONTROL OPTIONS including use during breastfeeding, please see this blog post and its all-inclusive chart!