Q: But doc I’ve seen women who are pregnant and breast feeding their baby and the baby got so sick please throw more light to this issue of pregnancy and breast feeding at the same time

Q: Thanks for the information. I have a similar problem now and I want to know what to do. My 1st child is one year this month, and I’m one month pregnant. I had my first baby through C-section. Please what do you advice?

Q: Please doc, answer this one. What about a situation when a mother loses her baby at birth? Is it okay to get pregnant immediately, say three months later? What’s the implication of this?

A: Hello everyone. It was certainly very interesting to see the interest yesterday’s post generated. So, I’ve chosen some of the follow-up questions to address today.

Breast feeding is important and critical for every child and that’s why even a pregnancy is not an indication to stop breastfeeding. However, breastfeeding when pregnant is not for every woman. As my earlier posts said, women who have had premature babies or who have pre-term contractions or multiple pregnancies may not be ideal candidates. In addition, the breastfeeding mother needs to be well nourished in order to feed her baby. When you combine those nutritional requirements with that of also nourishing a baby on the inside, then y’all understand that this woman has to be REALLY well nourished. She’s got to commit to eating right, attending her antenatal classes regularly and taking her antenatal drugs faithfully. So, anyone who cannot keep up with this may very well have to wean early.

When is the best time to put to bed after a still birth? Or even after a live birth? Or after C-section? There are lots of opinions on this: 3 months, 6 months, 2 years etc, but the general consensus is that if you had vaginal delivery, about three months may be a safe time to start. If you have had a Caesarian section, at least six months. Remember that apart from the physical effect that pregnancy has on the body, there are also the emotional issues to deal with, for instance, in a woman dealing with a still born child. These all have to be taken into consideration in deciding the best time to try again in spite of the guides given above. Remember, that it is very important to be guided by your obstetrician during the entire period.

And by the way, if you find that you’re pregnant earlier than the periods mentioned here, you don’t really need to panic…because I kinda sense someone’s going to ask me that tomorrow 😀 Just be sure to get registered with a great doctor as soon as possible.
This might be a good time to remind y’all that while exclusive breastfeeding may help prevent pregnancy in some cases, it’s not foolproof and so it’s important for breastfeeding mothers to have some other method of contraception or stand the risk of having baby 2 while still nursing baby 1 😀

That’s it, people 😀

Have a good night, y’all 🙂