How Soon Can You Get Pregnant After Giving Birth?

After giving birth, women may not see the return of their menstrual cycle for weeks, and sometimes for months or years. This can cause some confusion about when the woman is fertile again and should use contraception if she hopes to avoid becoming pregnant. Fortunately, each woman can use some key information about her particular situation that can give some clues as to whether she should use birth control and when.

Ovulation and Pregnancy

The bottom line is that a woman is able to get pregnant as soon as she starts ovulating again. But there is a wide variance in how long it takes women to start ovulating again after giving birth, depending on her genetics, her breastfeeding relationship with her baby, nutrition and other factors. Because ovulation occurs before the return of the first period--typically 14 days before--it is possible to get pregnant again before the woman has seen the return of her menstrual cycle. And with women taking anywhere from weeks to years to see menstruation return, it's risky to make wild guesses about whether they are fertile.

When to Use Contraception

Abstaining from sex is the only guaranteed method of birth control. Many women opt to start using contraception as soon as sexual activity resumes after the baby's birth, regardless of whether their menstrual cycle has returned and when they expect it to.

Breastfeeding as Contraception

Relying on breastfeeding as contraception used to be popular, especially with parents wishing to practice "natural family planning." However, unintended pregnancies have given this misunderstood method a bad reputation. Unfortunately, many partners have mistakenly assumed that as long as the mother is breastfeeding, she is unable to get pregnant. Because the first ovulation comes before the woman sees her first period return, this is perhaps the biggest reason for the method's failure.

Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM)

According to numerous studies and a 1988 international consensus meeting in Bellagio, Italy, the breastfeeding method is more than 98 percent effective if women adhere to three simple criteria:

--The mother has not seen the return of her menstrual cycle

--The mother must be less than six months postpartum

--The mother is breastfeeding her baby on demand, day and night, and not feeding the baby other foods or liquids regularly. Occasional tastes of foods or other liquids are permitted, but they should never replace a feeding at the breast.

The first point is evidence that the mother's cycle has not yet returned. The last two points decrease the odds of the mother's cycle returning soon. Some Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) experts add to the third point that mothers relying on the LAM method not give their babies pacifiers, as it is important in keeping the menstrual cycle at bay that the baby be nursing at the breast for all nutritional and sucking needs. It is common to see mothers who exclusively breastfeed not see their period return until their babies are going longer stretches between nursing sessions or are sleeping through the night. This can delay the return of the menstrual cycle for months or years, depending on how long the nursing relationship lasts.

Family Planning

Family planning is a deeply personal decision for a family. While it is difficult to guess when a woman will ovulate again after having a baby, understanding some key criteria can help a family determine what approach they would like to take toward family planning at any given time.