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When will my period come back after giving birth?
When your period comes back after giving birth, with and without breastfeeding, and why you can get pregnant before your first period.
Updated
In short
When will my period come back after giving birth?
If you're not breastfeeding, your period usually comes back about 4 to 9 weeks after giving birth. If you're breastfeeding, it may not return for 3 to 12 months, and sometimes not until a few weeks after you stop. You ovulate about 2 weeks before a period, so you can get pregnant before your first period after birth arrives.
Written by the Gyne team · Medical review: pending
Key takeaways
- Without breastfeeding, most periods return within about 4 to 9 weeks of birth.
- Breastfeeding can delay your period for months, especially if you breastfeed often, day and night.
- You can get pregnant before your first period, as early as about 3 weeks after birth.
- Breastfeeding only works as birth control under strict conditions, for up to 6 months.
- Cycle tracking, including Gyne, is not birth control, so ask your doctor about a method that suits you.
When does your period come back if you're not breastfeeding?
If you feed your baby formula, your period usually returns about 4 to 9 weeks after birth. Some people get it a little sooner, and many get it around 6 to 8 weeks.
Ovulation, when an egg is released, comes first. Without breastfeeding, it can happen within a few weeks of birth.
When does your period come back if you're breastfeeding?
Breastfeeding lowers the hormones that drive your cycle, so periods often stay away for a while. If you're breastfeeding, your period may not return for 3 to 12 months.
If you breastfeed exclusively, meaning your baby gets only breast milk, and your baby is under 6 months, you're unlikely to have periods. Once feeds get less frequent or you add formula or solid food, your period may come back. It can also take several weeks after you stop breastfeeding completely.
The same drop in hormones can cause vaginal dryness and a lower sex drive. These changes are temporary and usually pass when your cycle returns.
Can you get pregnant before your first period after birth?
Yes. You ovulate about 2 weeks before a period starts, so you can be fertile before you've had any period at all. Without a period to warn you, it's easy to be caught by surprise.
You can get pregnant as early as about 3 weeks after birth, including if you're breastfeeding and your periods haven't started. Even with breastfeeding, ovulation usually returns by about 6 months.
Can you get pregnant while breastfeeding?
Yes. Breastfeeding on its own is not reliable birth control. It only works under strict rules called the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM), which means using breastfeeding to delay ovulation. LAM only works when all of these are true:
- Your baby is under 6 months old.
- Your baby gets only breast milk, with no formula, solid food or pacifier.
- You breastfeed at least every 4 hours during the day and every 6 hours at night.
- Your period hasn't come back, and even light spotting counts as a period.
When does breastfeeding stop protecting you from pregnancy?
Followed exactly, LAM is more than 99% effective. With everyday slips it's about 98% effective, so 2 in 100 people get pregnant within 6 months. Start another form of birth control as soon as any of these happen:
- Your baby turns 6 months old.
- Your baby starts formula, solid food or a pacifier.
- Your period comes back, even as spotting.
- You stop night feeds, or feeds become less frequent or further apart.
- You pump instead of nursing, since it isn't clear how pumping affects LAM.
Is it my first period or postpartum bleeding?
Bleeding right after birth, called lochia, starts heavy and red and slowly fades to pink, then yellow or white over about 6 weeks. A period is new bleeding that starts after that discharge has settled.
If bleeding stops for more than a few days and then comes back, it may be your period, but call your doctor to make sure it isn't a sign of a problem.
What birth control can you use after having a baby?
Some methods can start right after birth, even while breastfeeding, including the implant, the shot, the progestin-only pill, condoms and an IUD. Methods with estrogen, like the combined pill, patch and ring, are usually started later, especially if you're breastfeeding.
It's easiest to choose a method while you're still pregnant, or to talk about it before you leave the hospital. Experts recommend waiting 18 months after birth before getting pregnant again, which gives your body time to heal. Ask your doctor about the best option for you.
When to see a doctor
- You soak through a pad in an hour or less, or pass clots bigger than a golf ball: call your doctor right away, and call 911 or your local emergency number if you also feel faint or dizzy.
- Bleeding comes back after it stopped for more than a few days and you're not sure it's your period.
- You have a fever, belly pain that gets worse, or discharge that smells bad.
- You have a positive pregnancy test with severe belly pain, shoulder pain, dizziness or bleeding: get care right away.
- Your period hasn't come back within a few months of birth if you're not breastfeeding, or within a few months of stopping breastfeeding.
- You want to avoid pregnancy and haven't chosen a birth control method yet.
How Gyne helps
Gyne knows you gave birth, so the months without a period aren't counted as a cycle, and cycle tracking restarts when your period returns. Gyne is not birth control, so talk to your doctor about a method that suits you.
PostpartumThis guide is general information, not medical advice. Only a doctor can diagnose a condition.