One of the first things they ask you when you go to the gynecologist when you get pregnant is the date of last rule. Thus, from that date, they calculate the moment of pregnancy in which you are, what is the probable date of delivery, and start the programming of visits, analytics and the first ultrasound, which in Spain usually takes place around 12 weeks If everything develops normally.
However, in recent years it is happening that many women go to the gynecologist or midwife because they are pregnant with another baby and when asked about the date of the last rule they can only go back to giving the first pregnancy, which happened in many cases years ago. How is it possible?
Breastfeeding may delay menstruation
And I say it can because it doesn't always happen, but often. A few years ago, women were breastfeeding for a few months. Most of them did two or three months, some a little more, and a minority arrived perhaps a year or more. This made the majority see their menstruation reappear at a more or less early time, which as usual was considered logical: it was normal for the rule to come soon, a few months after giving birth.
In Babies and more The first rule after childbirth: how and when it comesHowever, in recent years, with the recommendations of health agencies, which urge mothers to continue breastfeeding after 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding until at least the first two years of the baby, the time of return of the Menstruation happens quite late, in comparison, in many women.
It is not difficult to see women who breastfeed more than one or two years (not counting pregnancy) without the period, and all for a hormonal issue: while the hormones responsible for creating milk are elevated, the hormones responsible for ovulation are diminished, so that the woman does not ovulate ... and if you don't ovulate, you don't have the rule.
But ... why doesn't the rule come back?
Because the mother's body is programmed to take care of her children. If you are breastfeeding, the hormones responsible for making it fertile are not segregated in the usual amount and so I can't get pregnant again. He cannot, because he considers that if he is breast-feeding his son, his age is short enough that he cannot take care of another baby.
In other words, evolution made it possible for moms' bodies to know when they are taking care of a small child, so don't give him more work with a new baby, through breastfeeding. By the time the baby sucks less, ovulation returns so she can get pregnant again, because her son is supposed to be no longer dependent on mom.
In Babies and more Birth control during breastfeeding, which one is more recommended?Get pregnant at the first ovulation
Can you get pregnant breastfeeding, if you don't have the period? Many women often ask. The answer is if. In the first 6 months, if breastfeeding is exclusive, the chances are very low, because prolactin (the hormone responsible for making milk) is very high.
However, from that age, when babies start eating other things and some begin to sleep more at night, the shots are spaced apart from each other, the prolactin drops a little and the ovulation hormones can start to increase .
From that moment it is impossible to determine when the rule will come: some women reach seven months, some, in fact, it comes even earlier, two or three months (despite giving exclusive breastfeeding), and some tell for years.
But if you maintain relationships without a contraceptive method without the rule has come to you, it may happen that destiny does match relationships with the time of the first ovulation after delivery If pregnancy occurs, it will happen that you have managed to be pregnant again without even having the period after the previous baby.
And that's how you'll get to the gynecologist one day and you'll have to tell him that the date of your last period is the same as with your child, the one who accompanies you and who is walking, maybe asking you for a tit because for a while he distrusts the white coats ... who recently gave him a vaccine and he didn't like it.
