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How To Know if Fertility While Breastfeeding
Question
I have a 12-week old baby whom I have been primarily breastfeeding, with occasional supplementation or pumping. I have noticed thick mucus discharge with a brownish tint. I have had some cramping with it. The incidents have been about 25-26 days apart. There is no actual bleeding.
Is this a return to fertility? How do I start to chart when I do not know where I would be in a cycle??? I conceived baby #2 when I was primarily nursing baby #1 and he was just six months old. I am open to more babies, but would like to give myself a break. Help!
Courtney
Answer
Last Updated: November 24, 2021
Dear Courtney,
Recognizing the signs of impending ovulation is your key to deferring another pregnancy until you, your husband, and your other children are in a better position to welcome another baby.
You don’t have to wait until you start your period to begin charting; you can start charting any time. In fact, it is by charting that you will identify when you ovulate, which can occur before your first menstrual period. I suggest you consult a certified NFP teacher to help you confidently chart your fertility during this breastfeeding phase.
A good teacher can assist you in identifying your fertile and infertile signs. In the Billing Ovulation Method, which I teach, we would teach you to become aware of the sensations at your vulva as you go about your normal daily activities and record these at the end of the day before you retire, taking into account any visual observations, such as any discharge leaving your body or on the toilet paper or underwear without touching or investigating it. You would learn to identify a fertile pattern leading to ovulation, which is a changing, developing pattern of sensation/discharge ending in a final day of a slippery sensation at the vulva followed by a dry or sticky sensation the next day. Any bleeding has to be taken as a fertile sign and not assumed to be menstruation. You would also learn to identify your basic infertile pattern, a dry vulval sensation with no mucus, or perhaps an unchanging discharge. You will not ovulate without a fertile-type sensation/mucus discharge beforehand to give you a warning.
Now that you’ve had the “brownish discharge”, your situation is changing. It would be good to have a certified teacher help you discern the meaning of what you are observing, and advise the timing of intercourse to achieve your intentions of spacing the next pregnancy.
Pray to keep God in First Place, take a course, or refresher course, in NFP, learn all you can about it, chart carefully, and you will do fine.
Carole Roadarmel
Recognizing the signs of impending ovulation is your key to deferring another pregnancy until you, your husband, and your other children are in a better position to welcome another baby.
You don’t have to wait until you start your period to begin charting; you can start charting any time. In fact, it is by charting that you will identify when you ovulate, which can occur before your first menstrual period. I suggest you consult a certified NFP teacher to help you confidently chart your fertility during this breastfeeding phase.
A good teacher can assist you in identifying your fertile and infertile signs. In the Billing Ovulation Method, which I teach, we would teach you to become aware of the sensations at your vulva as you go about your normal daily activities and record these at the end of the day before you retire, taking into account any visual observations, such as any discharge leaving your body or on the toilet paper or underwear without touching or investigating it. You would learn to identify a fertile pattern leading to ovulation, which is a changing, developing pattern of sensation/discharge ending in a final day of a slippery sensation at the vulva followed by a dry or sticky sensation the next day. Any bleeding has to be taken as a fertile sign and not assumed to be menstruation. You would also learn to identify your basic infertile pattern, a dry vulval sensation with no mucus, or perhaps an unchanging discharge. You will not ovulate without a fertile-type sensation/mucus discharge beforehand to give you a warning.
Now that you’ve had the “brownish discharge”, your situation is changing. It would be good to have a certified teacher help you discern the meaning of what you are observing, and advise the timing of intercourse to achieve your intentions of spacing the next pregnancy.
Pray to keep God in First Place, take a course, or refresher course, in NFP, learn all you can about it, chart carefully, and you will do fine.
Carole Roadarmel
Answered By:
Carole Roadarmel
Carole Roadarmel, longtime Professional Member of CANFP, taught the Billings Method of NFP in the Los Angeles Region, where she lived with her husband Stan.
