Babies Breastfeeding For Mom The Safety of Taking Hormonal Birth Control While Breastfeeding By Stephanie Brown Stephanie Brown is a parenting writer with experience in the Head Start program and in NAEYC accredited child care centers. Learn about our editorial process Stephanie Brown Reviewed by Reviewed by Rebecca Agi, MS, IBCLC on July 26, 2020 Rebecca Agi, MS, IBCLC is a board-certified lactation consultant and founder of Best Milk LA, a lactation consulting service. Learn about our Review Board Rebecca Agi, MS, IBCLC on July 26, 2020 Print mother image / Getty Images While breastfeeding itself can often suppress ovulation and work as a method of birth control, it is not completely reliable. For all methods of birth control that contain hormones, it is recommended that you wait until you have been nursing for six weeks or longer. This is to make sure that your milk supply is well established since hormone-based methods can decrease your milk supply. Breastfeeding While Taking Birth Control Pills With Progestin Birth control pills that use only progestin are often called "mini-pills." They can be very effective as long as you take the pills at the same time each day or night. These pills are considered safe to take while nursing. Some of the progestin does cross over into breast milk, but no harmful effects have been seen. Some mothers see an increase in their milk supply while using this method, while most see no difference, and a few will see a decrease. Other methods using only progestin include Depo-Provera and Norplant. Breastfeeding While Taking Combination Birth Control Pills With Estrogen Pills that use a combination of hormones contain estrogen. Again, the estrogen does cross into breast milk, but harmful effects have not been seen in babies. The harm here lies in your milk supply. A large number of mothers taking combination type pills see a marked decrease in milk, which could sabotage your breastfeeding relationship. Therefore, it is not recommended that breastfeeding mothers use these or other similar forms such as the NuvaRing or patch. How to Choose a Birth Control Method When Breastfeeding Overall, the best birth control choice for breastfeeding mothers is not one of these hormonal methods, but if you must choose between the two types, you and your child would be better off if you choose a progestin-only course. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Track your baby’s most exciting moments with our milestone checklist. Get it free when you sign up for our newsletter. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed) [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2006-. Contraceptives, Oral, Combined. [Updated 2019 Oct 23].