With regard to fertility following giving birth, each woman is very
different. It used to be believed that women couldn't get pregnant as
long as they were breastfeeding -- but many pregnant women thinking
they could use this as birth control found out that this isn't
necessarily the case. Most women do not ovulate regularly following
delivery for several months, but there are no hard and fast rules for
everyone in this regard. In general, however, a woman is less fertile
following delivery.
With regard to how long to wait to get pregnant following a C-section,
different doctors have different preferences in this regard. The
recommendation of the ACOG is that you wait a minimum of nine months
to allow full healing of the uterus to occur. Some doctors recommend
their patients wait longer than this, and also recommend longer
periods of time if the C-section was a vertical cut as opposed to a
bikini cut, to prevent the risk of uterine rupture. It also depends
on whether you wish to attempt a vaginal delivery for your next
pregnancy. If you do, the longer you wait the better off you will be
in preventing uterine rupture. One study published in the Journal of
Obstetrics and Gynecology in February found a threefold increase in
the risk of uterine rupture among women attempting vaginal birth after
cesarean when the delivery was attempted less than 18 months following
the c-section.
Hope that helps.
JR |
