Post-birth contraception while breastfeeding?

Other than family planning (which has the lowest success rate) the copper coil and condoms are pretty much it. If you do hormonal as you're breastfeeding it would be progesterone only. I have the hormonal IUD as I didn't want my period and didn't want to risk heavier periods. It's been wonderful and hasn't affected my milk supply at all

Following 6 week apt Friday and EBF

My GP didn’t even ask me about any contraception when I went for my 8 week PP check so we’re just using condoms and not having sex if I’m in my fertile window

@Chrissy I second the hormone IUD Copper gave me bad cramps (never had cramps previous to that) I also don't understand why so many people come off the pill which has so many hormones that effect many aspects of life (good and bad) And want something completely non hormonal? The hormones in a IUD are so low dose they rarely effect more than beyond the uterine lining (did not effect my mood or drive at all) And prevent ectopic pregnancy which can be deadly and the copper does not prevent...plus they make periods less painful/go away for a lot of women and still have a almost 100% prevention rate for pregnancy Go with the copper if you want to but people need to look into what the hormones do before ultimately deciding that isn't the route

I was thinking about getting an iud but ultimately decided against it. I was given the progesterone only pill, but have yet to start it. I’m planning on just using condoms for the time being

My doc asked how my milk supply was. As I was just making enough for my kiddo, they suggested condoms rather than a pill so it wouldn't affect my supply.

I’m planning on the mini pill and condoms as I fell pregnant on the hormonal coil and the copper coil is less effective so I wouldn’t want to risk it again x

We only ever used condoms and then stopped using them when we decided to have our baby. I straight up refuse to go on the pill as my cycles have always pretty much been like clockwork and I just don’t want anything interfering with my body. So after baby is here we will most likely go back to condoms again.

From experience, DO NOT USE THE PROGESTERONE ONLY PILL. I was exclusively pumping and taking the one hormone pill and still got pregnant. I am currently 13w4d. And literally got pregnant on my 6th week and my ob gave me the pills when I discharged from the hospital. So I’d use condoms or a strong bc method.

I did the pill. 👀 the other options made me nervous 😅 While youre breastfeeding theyll give you a safe pill that wont affect your milk supply

@Casey the reason I was looking for non-hormonal options is because I did put on some weight from combined pill as well as had very spotty skin which may have been affected by the hormones, it’s something I spoke to my doctor about before pregnancy. Decided to go with progesterone only pill while I’m currently breastfeeding and will maybe revisit when I stop to see best options then 😊

@Nicole yes that’s what I did in the end, the copper coil made me feel nervous too just in case it dislodged or anything. I know highly unlikely but she don’t want to take the risk.

Thanks everyone for all the messsges. All really helpful and I’ll definitely maybe consider a change after breastfeeding so I will definitely revisit the post to explore other options 😊

@Tasmin totally get that 👍🏾 I only mention that the IUD that is hormonal normally only effects the uterus area so weight gain etc can happen but normally people don't have any body wide effects Totally makes sense though and finding out what works best for you ☺️ I hope it all goes well BFing is just another thing to have to think about when the baby already was 9 months of worrying I feel 😂

@Tasmin with the IUD a lot of people don't check the strings (which doctors recommend) I just checked them (well...my partner did because my fingers are too short 😂) every time I had sex/every once in a while in the shower If you can feel them in place it should be okay This is 6 years on the hormonal+3+ years on the copper (but I wouldn't recommend the copper because it made my cramps horrific)

@Casey thanks for all the information. 😊 So many things to consider but I guess we have to figure out what’s best along the way