The months after birth are often the most confusing time to practice Natural Family Planning. Cycles are absent or irregular, signs of fertility can be hard to read, and many couples are not sure whether they are fertile at all. With good instruction and patience, NFP can be used faithfully and effectively in this season too.
Why the postpartum time is different
During pregnancy the body does not ovulate. After birth, fertility returns, but when it returns is unpredictable. For some women it comes back within weeks, for others only after many months. Breastfeeding usually delays it, but by how much varies widely from woman to woman and from baby to baby. A woman can ovulate before her first postpartum bleeding, which means fertility may return before there is any obvious sign that it has.
Ecological breastfeeding and lactational amenorrhea
Frequent breastfeeding suppresses ovulation for a time. Ecological breastfeeding is a style of nursing in which the baby is fed on demand, day and night, with little or no use of bottles and pacifiers, and with mother and baby staying close. Many mothers who follow it have a longer delay in the return of fertility.
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Sources
- CCC 2368 Catechism of the Catholic Church, Regulation of births for just reasons
- CCC 2370 Catechism of the Catholic Church, Periodic continence and contraception
- CCC 2373 Catechism of the Catholic Church, Children as a gift
- Humanae Vitae 16 Humanae Vitae, Recourse to infertile periods
- Familiaris Consortio 32 Familiaris Consortio, The Church as teacher and mother for couples
- Gaudium et Spes 50 Gaudium et Spes, The fruitfulness of marriage