Tuesday, September 11, 2007 How long will my period return? By Dr. Fritz
Dear Dr. Fritz,
I'VE just given birth about two months ago. I'm breastfeeding my son. How soon after giving birth will I begin to start ovulating and having a normal period? Can I expect the same cycle as before?
If you don't breastfeed, you'll find that your cycle will resume very quickly -- as early as four to ten weeks after you have given birth. But, if you meet the following three criteria, then your chances of ovulating will only be about two percent:
* Your menstruation periods have not returned.
* You are fully or nearly fully breastfeeding
* Your baby is less than 6 months old
Now, if you wanted to have a safe and natural method of contraception during these first six months, you could use the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM).
The first criterion is that you have not resumed menstruating. What this means in practice is that any vaginal bleeding before the 56th day is almost always anovulatory or there are no eggs released from the ovary. Therefore, this can be ignored.
This is assuming that you are fully or nearly fully breastfeeding. But, any bleeding after the 56th day should be considered as a sign that you are ovulating again.
By the way, full breastfeeding means that you are not giving your baby any supplements. The Institute of Reproductive Health in Georgetown University has shown through extensive studies that the contraceptive effectiveness of LAM is maintained even if your breastfeeding is nearly full.
This means that you supplement no more than 15 percent of all feedings. Remember that the risk of resumed ovulation is an ongoing process and this is the reason why you should try limiting supplementing as much as possible.
On top of these, full or nearly full breastfeeding means that the intervals between feedings should not exceed four hours during the day or six hours at night.
Dr. Fritz
(For your questions, you can send them through Dr. Fritz, c/o Sunstar Davao, Granland Building, R.Castillo St., Davao City or you may e-mail them at dokfritz@yahoo.com.)
