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  |  Pregnancy  |  1st Trimester  |  Pregnant while breastfeeding?
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Pregnant while breastfeeding?

by Peg Plumbo

question
I'm breastfeeding my 12-month-old and my periods still haven't returned. We had unprotected sex about six weeks ago, and I'm afraid I might be pregnant. I have no nausea, which I had with my previous pregnancies. My breasts are full and tender, but they have been throughout breastfeeding. I am extremely tired, which was a symptom of my other pregnancies. Would a home pregnancy test give a false positive due to the hormones from breastfeeding?

answer
Although there are hormonal changes involved in breastfeeding, human chorionic gonadatropin is the hormone detected in the pregnancy test. This hormone would be present in the same amount whether you were breastfeeding or not.

Although amenorrhoea, or lack of periods, is very normal even this far into breastfeeding, you should take a pregnancy test.

Using a reliable method of birth control combined with breastfeeding should make conception unlikely. However, if you had a slip up six weeks ago, the test should be positive by now if you are pregnant. In any event, it never hurts to take a test.

I hope it works out for you. Good luck.

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