Breastfeeding and fertility treatment

Hi everyone :)

I haven't been on BB for quite a long time due to becoming a WAHM in the evening/weekends all of a sudden and a full time SAHM the rest of time (not much time for anything leisurely now days, and I miss my BB!), but I'm hoping that there are some ladies here who may be able to help me.

Hoping this will be the best place to post this...

I'm still BFing DD (18months old) and I am planning on starting a natural FET in the next couple of months. My AF returned shortly after DD was born and I've had a regular, ovulatory cycle for the best part of 15months. WE've been TTC naturally for 12 months now, 9 months seriously. My DD was conceived in our fourth treatment cycle for MFI - she is the product of a natural FET. I do not plan to wean my DD, but I feel that my clinic over here in the UK (we are bringing our embryos over to the UK in August) will tell me I need to stop BFing to have treatment, when my clinic in Melbourne (specifically my FS) would have been more than happy for me to breastfeed and go through treatment.

I just would like to know other ladies experiences of breastfeeding and preparing for fertility treatment. Did you go through treatment whilst still BFing, particularly natural FETs, but any fertility treatment? Were you told you needed to wean and what did you say?

I do not want to wean DD, and I will push to have my treatment whilst still BFing. I feel that my hormone levels are as back to normal as they're going to get, as my AF is the same length and flow as it used to be before I got pregnant. I am trying to find information on how prolactin can affect fertility treatment, but not coming across much at present. Any advise or resources that were helpful for you would really help me figure out how to push for this with my FS.

Thanks for your help!

Acacia :)

Acacia, there is some good information around on breastfeeding and fertility treatment. There was a good thread here recently which I can't find right now, but I've flagged this for one of the other mods who was posting in the thread. You might also find this podcast interesting, it is by an ABA counsellor who has gone through fertility treatment while breastfeeding and who has done loads of research about it all - MumsRight Podcast (scroll down to talk number 22 in the grey box on the right).

All the best hun.

Hi Acacia,
Welcome back - you were missed!

I'm not sure how your FS will work it, but i know that I was not allowed to do an FET while i was breastfeeding.
I was still feeding DS1 when he was 11 months and AF had not returned (a little woohoo). I knew I needed AF to come back to even think of an FET, so i slowly weaned him and as soon as i dropped one or two feeds AF came back straight away. I immediatley got my old regular cycle, so i went to the FS to discuss an FET. He told me straight up that yes Lots and lots of women conceive children while BF, but that there is still a certain level of interference with hormones etc (prolactin) and he would not consider doing an FET until I stopped completely. He convinced me that it was just not worth the risk. Also, although we were doing a natural FET, there may have been a chance that i needed some drug support afterwards and it would be easier to wean DS1 on my own time, than being forced to during a cycle.
I did speak to the ABA (my local group) and they agreed - although their knowledge was limited. If DS1 got sick or had a growth spurt or whatever (he was still only just a year) then his feed might increase and i might get a surge of hormones which could interfer with the embryo.
There are a lot of 'coulds' and 'mights' in what i said. But I decided to stop bf. I was a bit sad, but i conceived DS2 on my first natural FET. I'll never know if i could have carried on bfing, but I'm ok that i did stop. I made my own choice in the end.

I'm not sure i helped you at all. If i get a chance today, i'll look around for some 'proper' information!
Jo

Hi Acacia!
Welcome back!

I was really hoping to keep BF'ing DD too when starting IVF again for #2, but FS was adamant we stop for pretty much the same reasons that Lenny mentioned. I have a feeling that FS also said that our chances of success would be lower too due to higher Prolactin levels (embryo less likely to implant?), but my memory is a little vague, sorry.
We decided to wean her at 13mths, which was sad, but I felt it the right thing to do at the time. This time around I am looking forward to weaning in my own good time.

Our first cycle TTC'ing #2 was a full stim cycle, and I also have a vague memory that it was particularly important that we wean before a stim cycle as opposed to a FET. The drugs are not unsafe for baby if BF'ing during the cycle, but again the prolactin may have affected how well I stimmed, and then the implantation (or something like that).
Sorry to be so vague - I am newly pg again - and my brain has run off with the fairies.

Anyways - aside from saying all of the above, I have certainly heard of others doing FET's whilst BF'ing. Would your FS be open to atleast giving it a shot this first go?? Before starting could you wean down to a particular number of feeds per day (1 or 2) that would be easy enough to stop altogether if you did need extra drug support after a successful attempt? Just a thought.

Big decision, I know. Best of luck with it all!!! I hope to be seeing a BFP from you before long hun.

Ari
xxx

There's a woman in the ABA who's done some research on this, including possible effects of various drugs on the baby. The bottom line is that you don't necessarily have to wean. If you're having regular, ovulatory cycles while breastfeeding, then it is obviously not affecting your fertility.
In regards to prolactin levels, it's important to remember that while prolactin is high in the early months, it returns to lower levels even as you continue breastfeeding, so it will not necessarily have any bearing on your fertility.

i suspect FS' that insist on breastfeeding a following the standard, let's do everything we can philosophpy, regardless of whether it actually makes a difference. The thing is, also, while some FS are adamant that you must wean, others are fine with you continuing to breastfeed - they can't all be right.

there was a thread about this somewhere, but I can't find it now. MR's already linked to the podcast :D

At the end of the day it's your choice to make - how do they know you're breastfeeding anyway? Only if you tell them. I didn't mention it and continued. I thought I would need to wean and started the process, but then found this info and did not stop (we did an HRT cycle). Unfortunately my supply was so low at this point that it disappeared after a week on progynova. DS continued feeding till 8-9 weeks into the pregnancy (despite the lack of milk). I regret that I precipitated weaning. Fortunately the FET worked. If it had not, then I would have weaned for nothing and I'm sure I would feel even worse about taht - my son was not ready to stop.
If we have to do all this again, I will try to keep my supply up gonig into the FET, so hopefully we can continue (so long as my child wants to obviously). This is particularly important to me if the cycle does not work.

all the best with your FET.

Hi Acacia

We are currently doing an FET cycle and when I rang to book in with the FS to discuss the plan the first question I was asked was "Are you B'Fing", when I said that I wasn't I was told it was then ok to proceed but if I was B'Fing they wouldn't do an FET cycle.

I hope your little ice babies have a safe flight across the world to you. Goodluck.

If you are told to stop breastfeeding and don't want to, it's worthwhile looking into it more - the podcast is a good start and the speaker in the podcast can be contacted with further questions (let me know if you want to be put in touch). As Marcellus said, it is very much the same as other types of treatment and drugs - most doctors don't have the latest information on safety while breastfeeding so say it's not ok to protect themselves. In any specialised field it is always worth doing your own research if you are not happy with the medical advice. It is a really tough decision for anyone to make, and I am sure having lots of information makes it easier to rest assured you are doing the right thing.