Pumping and taking birth control?

vulpini

I'm almost exclusively pumping with a little bit of BF each day and it looks like my period may have returned at 5 weeks pp.  I guess I'll have to see what happens next month to be sure.  I had my first pp appointment today and saw the other doctor in the practice for the first time rather than my regular OB.  She said it's likely my period returning since I'm pumping rather than BF and suggested that I start on the mini-pill or Depo Provera for birth control.  She said both are safe for babies and should not affect milk supply, but since she's not my usual doctor she might not be aware that DS came early and I forgot to ask if him being late-preterm has any affect on when it's safe for me to start taking hormonal birth control.  I plan to get in touch with my regular OB and with DS's pediatrician before I take anything (I asked the doctor I saw today to hold off on the prescription while I think about the options), but I wanted to ask what some of you ladies have experienced as far as birth control and milk supply/milk consistency/other changes and if you know of any additional concerns regarding progesterone pills and preemies?

carrotcake06

I had mirena in between my first and the twins and no issues w supply. I bf my first for 20 mo.

I got mirena again after the twins (34weekers) and also haven't seen any impact on supply.

kelly422

Why would BC have anything to do with being a preemie?! 

I'm on mini pill and didn't notice any changes with my production and I EP. 

vulpini

kelly422 said:

Why would BC have anything to do with being a preemie?! 

I'm on mini pill and didn't notice any changes with my production and I EP. 

kellymom.com mentions that babies under 6 weeks old may have issues with metabolizing the hormones - 

"Effects on baby: There have been no adverse reports of side effects to the baby. Both progestin and estrogen are approved by the AAP for use by nursing moms. Children whose mothers used hormonal birth control while nursing have been followed as late as 17 years of age. The exception to this is the very young baby – less than 6 weeks old. There may be some concern about the baby’s immature liver being able to metabolize the hormones passed through the milk well enough."

Of course there is no mention to how this translates for preemies under 6 weeks adjusted age.  Also, I don't know how much of a concern this really is.

kelly422

Hmm, never heard that so who knows how much of a concern it is.  FWIW, I didn't start until I was 6 weeks pp anyway! 

Pips09

My doc never mentioned it being a problem. I was on the mini-pill while pumping.

KTZ17

I noticed a dip in my supply after starting the mini pill. My LC says it affects supply in about 10% of women. Needless to say I stopped taking it.

efortune

I didnt start the mini pill until 6 weeks post partum and didnt experience any dip in supply. I wouldnt suggest starting any birth control until supply is well established. If you're trying to increase supply, don't take any hormones.

ashleymarie512

So glad you posted! I'm taking the mini pill and EP and my already crappy supply absolutely took a nose dive. I pumped about one ounce in a 12-hr period. The LC suggested calling dr about Reglan so ill do that tomorrow. In the meantime I'm going to stop the bc...we were IF anyway so the odds off getting pregnant are pretty slim!

DrRx

I had to take a combination birth control (not the mini-pill) because of my PCOS, and it didn't have an effect on my supply or my daughter.

LactMed is a government website from NIH that has information on meds and lactation.  Here is the link. Just type in the drug and it will give you information. 

https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search

PhillyGal34

I got Mirena approximately 7 weeks pp (DS was a little over 8 weeks early) It did not effect my supply that I noticed, I actually had a huge oversupply so I wish it would have.  DS is over 15 months and still nurses so it did not cause any long term problems either.  

Best of luck!!!

rslhmg

I would recommend not going on the depo, on the very slim chance you are in the small percentage of women who experience a dip in supply. I made the mistake of going on depo with an almost non existent supply to begin with and it wiped out what little I was producing, the odds were so low that it would cause an issue that I didn't think anything of them at the time I chose that option, I feel like I may have been able to keep up bf if I had chosen a method that could be stopped quickly instead of something that lasts 3 months and has to wear off. As far as the effects on lo, my regular ob as well as the high risk ob that delivered me were both confident that they were safe to take while nursing even with a preemie.

LaciJaxx

My OB, who delivered my preemie and knows everything about us, put me on drop-provera 6 weeks ago and I've had no issues with milk supply or anything else. I'm also exclusively pumping. Good luck!!