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Missing Period After Delivery. Having Regular Intercourse. Should I Be Concerned?
Question: This is about my wife - she delivered a baby boy(our 1st and only child) 10months ago. its a normal delivery with a minor 3-4 stitches. Now we are expecting her regular periods - which are stopped after the delivery. Is this normal and can we wait or should we go for a check up....We are having intercourse regularly and have not seen any signs of second pregnancy.
Hello XXXXXXX
Delivering a baby, by itself, has no contraceptive effect. It is Breast Feeding that provides contraception provided certain conditions are met with:
1. No periods or bleeding after delivery other than that occuring within 2 months of child birth.
Absence of period after delivery is normal but the duration may vary from 1 month to 1 year in different women.
2. Baby less than 6 months old.
3. Exclusive breast feeding. The only source of nourishment for the baby is from the breast. If infant formula or semi solids in any form or even milk from other sources are used, the protective effect of breast feeding against conception is lost.
4. The interval between 2 breast feeds is not more than 4 hours during the day and not more than 6 hours at night.
This is known as the natural method of contraception or LAM (Lactational Anenorrhiea Method). Lactation = breast feeding. Amenorrhoea= no periods. It has a protection rate against pregnancy of more than 95%.
Check against this list whether you fulfil ALL the 4 requirements for all 4 MUST be met. Clearly, you don't fulfil the requirement in Item No. 2 - the baby is more than 6 months old!! Therefore your wife is NOT protected against pregnancy and you should immediately check out with a Urine Pregnancy Test first thing tomorrow morning and take action accordingly.
Take care,
Dr Nirja Chawla
Delivering a baby, by itself, has no contraceptive effect. It is Breast Feeding that provides contraception provided certain conditions are met with:
1. No periods or bleeding after delivery other than that occuring within 2 months of child birth.
Absence of period after delivery is normal but the duration may vary from 1 month to 1 year in different women.
2. Baby less than 6 months old.
3. Exclusive breast feeding. The only source of nourishment for the baby is from the breast. If infant formula or semi solids in any form or even milk from other sources are used, the protective effect of breast feeding against conception is lost.
4. The interval between 2 breast feeds is not more than 4 hours during the day and not more than 6 hours at night.
This is known as the natural method of contraception or LAM (Lactational Anenorrhiea Method). Lactation = breast feeding. Amenorrhoea= no periods. It has a protection rate against pregnancy of more than 95%.
Check against this list whether you fulfil ALL the 4 requirements for all 4 MUST be met. Clearly, you don't fulfil the requirement in Item No. 2 - the baby is more than 6 months old!! Therefore your wife is NOT protected against pregnancy and you should immediately check out with a Urine Pregnancy Test first thing tomorrow morning and take action accordingly.
Take care,
Dr Nirja Chawla
Note: Revert back with your gynae reports to get a clear medical analysis by our expert Gynecologic Oncologist. Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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