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Question
23 Jan 2009
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Breastfeeding and can' t fall pregnant
My wife has been breastfeeding our first child for just over 2,5 yrs now and it' s proving very benefitial still - however the second pregnancy is just not happening. My sperm were not the strongest but I made up for that in quantity whereas my wife needed an endometriosis op 3 mo before falling pregnant the first time which could be the primary cause again.
The problem is her fertility specialist will not do ANYTHING until she stops breastfeeding our firstborn - a decision we do not take lightly. Please advise and recommend fertility specialists in Pretoria that are more open to their patients' (and patients to be) needs.
The problem is her fertility specialist will not do ANYTHING until she stops breastfeeding our firstborn - a decision we do not take lightly. Please advise and recommend fertility specialists in Pretoria that are more open to their patients' (and patients to be) needs.
Fertility expert
Dear Allan
Breastfeeding has some contraceptive effects by preventing ovulation from taking place. This may be a reason why your wife is not falling pregnant. I agree with your fertility specialist in that you should rather wait a bit longer until you are happy about stopping breastfeeding and then attempting to avail yourself for fertility treatment. The reason for this is that the use of fertility drugs may be detrimental and may go into the breast milk and to avoid potential side effects of these drugs to the baby, it is best that you only start treatment after breastfeeding. So it is not that your fertility specialist does not want to start treatment but he is taking the precaution so that no effect of these drugs will be passed to the baby that is feeding from the breast milk.
Breastfeeding has some contraceptive effects by preventing ovulation from taking place. This may be a reason why your wife is not falling pregnant. I agree with your fertility specialist in that you should rather wait a bit longer until you are happy about stopping breastfeeding and then attempting to avail yourself for fertility treatment. The reason for this is that the use of fertility drugs may be detrimental and may go into the breast milk and to avoid potential side effects of these drugs to the baby, it is best that you only start treatment after breastfeeding. So it is not that your fertility specialist does not want to start treatment but he is taking the precaution so that no effect of these drugs will be passed to the baby that is feeding from the breast milk.
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