Birth Control While Breast Feeding

My OB put me on the generic of Micronor (Joviette). I am having some decrease in supply, but not certain if it is because of the pill or if it is because I am at the 9 month mark. I still have not got a cycle either.

Hi L.,

If your cycle has not return back to normal I would not suggest taking the birth control pill for breastfeeding mother. It's not as effective for it's purpose. As long as your breastfeed exclusively you wont have to worry about your period. It will not come which means no more pregnancies. Of course, when you begin weaning the baby from nursing you want to consider either the pill or other proctection. I got pregnant with my third son and I was nursing and taking the pill for breastfeeding mommies. I think the pill actually allowed my period to come on so that it could do what it was supposed to do, but as I slowed down on the nursing the dosage of medicine in the pill wasn't enough. This is my theory.

Good Luck

Birth control can/will affect your supply...even the mini-pill. Best to go the natural family planning route while you are breastfeeding.

I started taking Micronor when my son was 9 months old and continued nursing him until he was 2 1/2 and never had any supply problem. You do need to be a good pill taker and take them at the same time every day, but it did work for me!

My daughter is 8 months old now, and I am still nursing, I have been on birth control since the day she was born. It has never effected my milk supply. I am on the depo provera shot you only have to go every three months to get it. And I have never had a problem. I am not sure what the pill is, but I do know when you are nursing there is only one pill and the shot that you take, and the birth control that you take is only 92% effective, because t hey have to take out certain hormones because of the baby! Best of luck!

I used Micronor, which is what your doctor would prescribe while breastfeeding. I exclusively breastfed my twins for 13 months, and didn't have any troubles with supply. Good luck!

I was told by both my lacation consultant and midwife not to take birth control pills while breastfeeding. Our only options was IUD, diaphragm, condom or natural family planning. I agree with some of the other posts, I would not take any hormones while b-feeding, it can affect his endocrine system early in life. Good luck

I would bring this question to your OB. I have heard the mini-pill is the only birth control that is safe to take while breastfeeding. Although I've known a few women that have gotten pregnant while on the mini-pill due to not taking it correctly. Regular hormonal BC is not ok to take while BFing. I would not just start on something without talking to your doc first.

Other options would be an IUD that can stay in place from a few months to years, or condoms with spermicide.

Good luck!

You can use the Progesterone Only Pill or POP (also called Mini-pill). Regular BC Pills contain estrogen which will decrease your supply. You can also use other progesterone-only methods like the Mirena IUD (or Paraguard) and Depo-Provera. Condoms, diaphragm, cervical cap are always options too.

Its possible that the regular pill will decrease supply. They suggest (and I took for a year while breastfeeding) the Progesteron only Pill. The drawback is you have to take it at the same time every day or it won't be as effective. I also had frequent and irregular periods with it....but they were light and short, just unpredictable.

I had enough milk to feed a country w/ both my girls, but after my second was born I did go on the pill when she was about six or eight weeks. I did, actually, notice a decrease in my milk supply. But, that also happened b/c at the same time I was finding it hard to pump/feed her enough being busy with a then 18 mos old as well. So, the combo didn't help. But, when I went off the pill to see if it would help, my supply did go up a bit...a noticeable amount at least. There is a pill that only has one hormone in it that docs can give nursing moms...and there's a low percentage of us that have our milk affected. I apparently was one of them. But, again... it was also hard for me to nurse/pump enough, too. My second wasn't a great nurser and never got the hang of it, and I had a young daughter to tend to as well.

Just know that you may want to pump/nurse more if you go on the pill since it COULD decrease your milk. If your hospital or doc has a lactation consultant, you can talk to her, too about ways to increase your milk supply while on the pill. I found mine really helpful (others were too pushy and judgemental for me, actually) and she helped a lot.

I, too, took the mini-pill. My milk supply did decrease, but I think it was more because I had gone back to work and was not nursing as much. I was pumping, but only once at lunch time, so I think that is why my supply went down. My dr. said progesterone would not hurt the baby in any way because it is something the body already produces. Good luck deciding.

L.,
The Today Sponge is back on the market! Its non-hormonal and easy to use. Also, there is a spermicide insert called Encare that you insert at least 10 minuted prior to intercourse and works for up to an hour. I was on the mini-pill for a few months but decided to just bag it and try these things instead. After having a baby I just wanted my hormones to return to as normal as they could be (although with breastfeeding that just doesn't happen!). These methods are technically not as effective as the pill, but if you use them correctly they will work just fine.
Good luck!
T.

L.,

Personally, I would NOT ingest any hormonal preparations while breastfeeding. Also, a thought for you if you are considering an IUD: the egg can get fertilized and then is not allowed to implant. Depending upon your view of abortion, you might want to seriously consider that aspect, (I believe that life begins at conception). That leaves you very little choices for birth control. However, as you consider the big picture of life, the amount of time you breastfeed your babies is small compared to a lifetime with your spouse, so perhaps that can help make some inconveniences (like condoms) more tolerable. Also, you always face the chance of failure of mechanical devices, so you could have yet, another child. Good luck to you, whatever you decide.

Yes I am on birth control while breastfeeding. Like PP said, it is the mini-pill (or progesterone only pill). Even though it is not supposed to decrease supply, some women have said that it has. I has NOT effected my milk supply at all. I have been happy with it so far. You could start on it and if you notice any significant decrease, just go off it right away and you should be able to get your supply back no problem.

I am also nursing but my doctor did not recommend putting hormones in my body while nursing and suggested alternate birth control. I have heard that it can slow your milk supply so to me it was not worth it but then again I don't have an overflowing amount of milk, just perfect so it depends on your situation. Good luck!

I used the mini-pill with my first daughter and it was fine. I now have Mirena and so far so good. My midwife said it was perfectly safe for nursing.

I started taking birth control when my son was 6 months old and my milk supply decreased so dramatically that he lost interest in nursing and weaned himself by 9 months... I would definitely wait until you know that you're ready to wean before taking the pill. I had to stop pumping too because I just wasn't able to express much milk at all at that point, so I knew my son wasn't getting much either. Luckily he had no problem taking a bottle, but we did have to introduce formula, which I had not planned to do... I'm expecting our 2nd child next month and will NOT take birth control this time around at all. I talked to my doctor already about the IUD.... one of my girlfriends is using it and says it's fantastic... and no hormones like birth control.... If you're serious about nursing for a certain length of time, I would wait until you've achieved your nursing goal for B.C. pills.... talk to your OB about your other options instead...

I am on Micronor and am breastfeeding my 4 month old. My supply is enough to feed and freeze milk for my baby. I have not seen any decrease in supply. The only time I see a decrease is when I do not nurse or pump enough but as soon as I increse the feeding/pumping it goes right back up. I consider the breastfeeding and pill to be double protection until we decide to have another or stop breastfeeding. I was also on the same pill after my 4 year old and everything was fine.