For those of you on the pill...

I'm on levlen, and I was wondering how long after birth I can start taking it again? I intend to breastfeed for the first 6 months, assuming bubs and I don't have to many issues with it :)

I went on the mini pill 3 1/2 weeks after birth. i think as long as you are breastfeeding it is contraception in itself but its never 100% so i thought better safe than sorry!
I dont like the bit in small print that says a small ammount of the pill goes into the breastmilk though, who knows what its doing to bub!
im going to switch to the IUD soon. i suck at remembering to take it exactly the same time everyday, and the last thing i want is to be pregnant again so soon!

No way is Breastfeeding contraception in itself. MW will definitely discuss contraception options with you and will probably give you a script for the minipill or condoms. I was lucky as My mw gave me a script for the minipill and condons as I was discharged from the hosp a few hrs post birth lol, Who knows what she thought I was going home to do

Hi

I do agree, discuss it with your midwife, and at the end of the day it's your decision, if you don't bf for whatever reason, you have slightly more options available to you. In those first few weeks though, the tiny little life you have created is usually contraception enough, was for us anyway. I will say though, you are actually "hyper" fertile in the first 6 weeks of giving birth so you are at an increased risk of becoming pregnant at this time.......just ask Britney Spears!

Actually bf is slightly more reliable than the mini-pill when it comes to preventing pregnancy when certain criteria are met for the first 6 months; mini pill is about 95-97%, (LAM,that's what it's called) is 98-99.5% effective. We used it exclusively. If anyone wants to read about bf as a contraceptive, have a look here for more information. Not saying it's for everyone, but it worked for us. For the people it didn't work for, I'd be interested to know if they met the criteria for all or part of the time it ended up not working for.

There is some debate that the mini-pill, started less than 12 weeks post birth, can impact on supply but I can't comment personally as DS1 was mix fed from 4 weeks and as above, I only went back on the mini-pill 6 weeks ago.

Some women are just more fertile than others; I know plenty of women who have gotten pregnant when bf, on the mini-pill, on the combi pill, had the coil fitted, or any combination of the aforementioned things etc. The only 100% guaranteed way not to get pregnant is to avoid dp/dh like the plague! LOL I hear all the time that once you stop bf you need to go on the combined pill because the mini pill stops working.......I NEVER came off the mini-pill after DS1 prematurely weaned at 9 months and in the 4 years I was on it, never got pregnant once. So just keep an open mind and do what works for you.

Haven't read the other posts, so sorry if I'm repeating what others have said! The only pill it's safe to take when bfeeding is the mini pill. I went onto levlen after I stopped bfeeding at 8 months.