In a message dated 6/23/2003 10:32:45 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
>
> Hello,
>
> Can anyone direct me to some information or share like stories for a
> mother who is exclusively breastfeeding her 2 month old and thinks she

> is menstruating already.  She would like birth control options and
> possibly an explanation about why her fertility is returning so soon.

> She is also tandem nursing her 2 year old too!
>
> Thanks,
> Stephanie Simmons
> Milwaukee (WI) LLL Leader


I have been lurking here for some time but never posted, but I thought I
would share my personal experience here.  With all three of my children
I experienced 4-5 weeks post-partum bleeding, and then had my first
menses in the 5th or 6th week.  With the first birth I thought it might
be stress about returning to work full-time at 6 weeks.  However, I
experienced the same with each successive birth when I was an
exclusively breastfeeding on cue as a stay-at-home mom.  I did nurse
throughout each subsequent pregnancy and tandem nursed briefly with baby
two and more intensely with my recent baby four.  I did find that my
early menses were irregular (and frequent) and probably not ovulatory
(although I don't track my fertility cues closely).  But I have gotten
pregnant again as soon as six months post-partum.

Information about birth control options would be the same for this mom
as any -- natural family planning methods, barrier methods, and then the
spectrum of hormonal methods.  Because her baby is completely dependent
on her for nutrition she should be well informed about potential
decrease in milk supply from hormonal birth control options.

When discussing return of fertility in LLL meetings, I give statistical
information about lactational amenorrhea from the Breastfeeding Answer
Book and other sources (e.g., study which showed avg. return of menses
at 14.5 months), but add that fertility is individual.  Breastfeeding
suppresses fertility, but some women are more fertile than others.  In
my years in LLL I have heard of a few other moms whose fertility
returned early, but usually these moms don't speak out.  More often,
moms who wish to become pregnant but whose menses have not returned are
more vocal in discussions of fertility.  Congratulate this mom on her
breastfeeding success!


From:    "Jacqui Gruttadauria." <[log in to unmask]>

In a message dated 6/23/2003 10:32:45 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

>
> Hello,
>
> Can anyone direct me to some information or share like stories for a
> mother who is exclusively breastfeeding her 2 month old and thinks she

> is menstruating already.  She would like birth control options and
> possibly an explanation about why her fertility is returning so soon.

> She is also tandem nursing her 2 year old too!
>
> Thanks,
> Stephanie Simmons
> Milwaukee (WI) LLL Leader
>

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