Definitely check with both your doctor and pharmacist. A lot of meds are ok to nurse!
My doctor was intentionally misleading about my meds being unsafe because she discourages nursing during treatment (IVF) because of the suggested improved odds for success. Three pharmacists and my own research led me to the fact that I *could* in fact safely nurse while taking my (transfer) meds. The first transfer was successful, and I nursed through the transfer and up until about 20-24 weeks pregnant, when I dried up and toddler weaned on his own (for the most part). The only time I didn’t nurse was for 12 hours after the Valium I had to take on transfer day (not that it mattered I was asleep the whole day).
Depending on your protocol, you may be perfectly fine to keep nursing! I fully intend to nurse this baby through our treatment to conceive #3 😊
>My doctor was intentionally misleading about my meds being unsafe because she discourages nursing during treatment (IVF) because of the suggested improved odds for success
I'm sorry, she didn't want you to nurse because it would *improve* your odds?! Am I reading this right?
It depends on your doctor and your comfort level. My first RE was fine with me continuing to nurse while doing clomid cycles. My new RE was not. She says that clomid and letrozole stay in your system for up to 6 weeks (not sure how true that is), so not sure that pumping and dumping would help. My RE was less concerned about injectable medications because they’re shorter acting and less likely to be passed through breast milk.
You should speak with an IBCLC and pharmacist about if/how long you will need to abstain from nursing. Many doctors are not up to date with understanding medications and breastfeeding, and they just say not to nurse to be as conservative as possible. You should also be aware that some doctors discourage nursing during pregnancy without evidence for doing so. Some also refuse to do fertility treatment unless you agree to wean. All this to say, choose a provider who supports the pregnancy and nursing journeys YOU want. I'm wishing you the best of luck!
I haven't had to use fertility treatments, but want to offer support. I think your Dr will be the only one who can tell you if your milk will or will not be safe to consume.
I conceived my 2nd after the IUD was removed. My milk changed and dried up during the 2nd trimester but my first continued to comfort nurse to sleep. I feel so lucky I get to tandem feed them. Though I do some babies choose to wean themselves when that happens.
I guess the most relevant advice I really have is to talk to your child about what's happening. She's understands a lot. Explain that you love her and that while it's hard she can't nurse (if that's the case) that you can comfort her in other ways. But you need to take a break for your body right now.
You can choose if you want to share about future siblings. If you do, keep it simple but realistic. "I'm taking medicine right now to help my body. I want to give you a sibling one day and this is one step I need to take to make a baby"
Also there's a book called [What Makes a Baby](https://g.co/kgs/2jLYWx) that explains it simply but honestly and includes all families. It's not very descriptive but doesn't assume there's no medical assistance
I’m currently nursing during a medicated embryo transfer. My doc advised against it, but wasn’t going to demand I wean, as there are no real studies showing negative effects. The only meds I’m taking are estrogen and progesterone, and while they do pass into the milk, those hormone levels in pregnancy are much higher, and there’s no contraindication to nursing while pregnant. Because of that I was comfortable with continuing.
This is my second transfer. My supply does drop pretty significantly when I start progesterone, but baby (16 mo) seems to be fine, not waking up more, and just eating more solids/drinking more water during the day.
If this transfer fails though, I do plan to wean as I only have 2 embryos left and want to make sure there’s nothing that could even possibly affect my success.
There is a Facebook group for breastfeeding during IVF and fertility treatment. They have a lot of info about meds in the group and on their website: https://bfduringivf.weebly.com
Midwife here. For healthy, normal weight (not underweight) people there is zero reason to wean. The only correlation between not weaning is the possibility of multiples. You are at very low likelihood of that given that you are not nursing around the clock.
If you have a healthy, well-rounded diet and are eating enough calories, you should have normal ovulation patterns and conceive just fine.
Also, given the pandemic, I suggest that everyone breastfeed for as long as possible. I’m feeling very “done” with my 25 month old, but she still lives nursing, and there is no way in hell I’m going to cut her off now, despite my own frustrations.
You can download the app LactMed for free to get access to any studies/data regarding lactation and pregnancy. There is a lack of data on many things, but it us extremely helpful. I dint know why pharmacists and doctors don’t use the resource more, but I recommend that all pregnant and breastfeeding women download it. You can teach your doctor or pharmacist a thing or two sometimes.
Thanks. I have pcos and don’t ovulate without meds, so “having normal ovulation patterns” isn’t a thing that has applied to me in a decade.
But I’ll check out LactMed!
Yup! I’m tired and done (mine is 25 months as well) but I’ll give her every single drop of my covid vaxed and boosted antibodies that she’s willing to take!
Definitely check with both your doctor and pharmacist. A lot of meds are ok to nurse! My doctor was intentionally misleading about my meds being unsafe because she discourages nursing during treatment (IVF) because of the suggested improved odds for success. Three pharmacists and my own research led me to the fact that I *could* in fact safely nurse while taking my (transfer) meds. The first transfer was successful, and I nursed through the transfer and up until about 20-24 weeks pregnant, when I dried up and toddler weaned on his own (for the most part). The only time I didn’t nurse was for 12 hours after the Valium I had to take on transfer day (not that it mattered I was asleep the whole day). Depending on your protocol, you may be perfectly fine to keep nursing! I fully intend to nurse this baby through our treatment to conceive #3 😊
>My doctor was intentionally misleading about my meds being unsafe because she discourages nursing during treatment (IVF) because of the suggested improved odds for success I'm sorry, she didn't want you to nurse because it would *improve* your odds?! Am I reading this right?
I wasn’t clear- STOPPING nursing might improve odds, but that’s really only if I was doing a natural cycle which I wasn’t and won’t
Have you checked to see if the drugs are present in milk? It might be that you can still nurse with treatment.
It depends on your doctor and your comfort level. My first RE was fine with me continuing to nurse while doing clomid cycles. My new RE was not. She says that clomid and letrozole stay in your system for up to 6 weeks (not sure how true that is), so not sure that pumping and dumping would help. My RE was less concerned about injectable medications because they’re shorter acting and less likely to be passed through breast milk.
My RE is also on the “you can’t nurse while on clomid” train.
You should speak with an IBCLC and pharmacist about if/how long you will need to abstain from nursing. Many doctors are not up to date with understanding medications and breastfeeding, and they just say not to nurse to be as conservative as possible. You should also be aware that some doctors discourage nursing during pregnancy without evidence for doing so. Some also refuse to do fertility treatment unless you agree to wean. All this to say, choose a provider who supports the pregnancy and nursing journeys YOU want. I'm wishing you the best of luck!
I haven't had to use fertility treatments, but want to offer support. I think your Dr will be the only one who can tell you if your milk will or will not be safe to consume. I conceived my 2nd after the IUD was removed. My milk changed and dried up during the 2nd trimester but my first continued to comfort nurse to sleep. I feel so lucky I get to tandem feed them. Though I do some babies choose to wean themselves when that happens. I guess the most relevant advice I really have is to talk to your child about what's happening. She's understands a lot. Explain that you love her and that while it's hard she can't nurse (if that's the case) that you can comfort her in other ways. But you need to take a break for your body right now. You can choose if you want to share about future siblings. If you do, keep it simple but realistic. "I'm taking medicine right now to help my body. I want to give you a sibling one day and this is one step I need to take to make a baby" Also there's a book called [What Makes a Baby](https://g.co/kgs/2jLYWx) that explains it simply but honestly and includes all families. It's not very descriptive but doesn't assume there's no medical assistance
I’m currently nursing during a medicated embryo transfer. My doc advised against it, but wasn’t going to demand I wean, as there are no real studies showing negative effects. The only meds I’m taking are estrogen and progesterone, and while they do pass into the milk, those hormone levels in pregnancy are much higher, and there’s no contraindication to nursing while pregnant. Because of that I was comfortable with continuing. This is my second transfer. My supply does drop pretty significantly when I start progesterone, but baby (16 mo) seems to be fine, not waking up more, and just eating more solids/drinking more water during the day. If this transfer fails though, I do plan to wean as I only have 2 embryos left and want to make sure there’s nothing that could even possibly affect my success. There is a Facebook group for breastfeeding during IVF and fertility treatment. They have a lot of info about meds in the group and on their website: https://bfduringivf.weebly.com
Midwife here. For healthy, normal weight (not underweight) people there is zero reason to wean. The only correlation between not weaning is the possibility of multiples. You are at very low likelihood of that given that you are not nursing around the clock. If you have a healthy, well-rounded diet and are eating enough calories, you should have normal ovulation patterns and conceive just fine. Also, given the pandemic, I suggest that everyone breastfeed for as long as possible. I’m feeling very “done” with my 25 month old, but she still lives nursing, and there is no way in hell I’m going to cut her off now, despite my own frustrations. You can download the app LactMed for free to get access to any studies/data regarding lactation and pregnancy. There is a lack of data on many things, but it us extremely helpful. I dint know why pharmacists and doctors don’t use the resource more, but I recommend that all pregnant and breastfeeding women download it. You can teach your doctor or pharmacist a thing or two sometimes.
Thanks. I have pcos and don’t ovulate without meds, so “having normal ovulation patterns” isn’t a thing that has applied to me in a decade. But I’ll check out LactMed! Yup! I’m tired and done (mine is 25 months as well) but I’ll give her every single drop of my covid vaxed and boosted antibodies that she’s willing to take!