Most women hear at one time or another that nursing a baby can serve as a form of birth control. Although you can get pregnant while nursing a baby, your chances of pregnancy vary depending upon the factors surrounding your nursing experience.
The Facts
Women typically experience a period of natural infertility following the birth of a child during which they do not ovulate. If you breastfeed, this period of infertility usually lasts at least three months, but according to La Leche League International, nursing exclusively can cause it to last as long as 14.6 months (on average).
Early Lactation
According to La Leche League International, your chances of conceiving while breastfeeding are less than 2 percent as long as your baby is under 6 months of age, your baby is breastfeeding on demand and your periods have not returned yet.
Considerations
Regardless of your baby's age, you are more likely to get pregnant while nursing a baby if you supplement with formula or your baby has started eating solid foods.
Factors
Factors that affect your return of fertility while nursing a baby include the frequency that you nurse (how many times in 24 hours) and the duration that you nurse (how many minutes your baby nurses each time).
Expert Insight
According Dr. Robert Zurawin, M.D., an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, you typically ovulate (release a ripe egg) for the first time after pregnancy about two weeks before your first menstrual cycle. If you've engaged in unprotected sex during that time period, you could technically conceive without ever having a period.
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