Lactation & Fertility Online Course(s) & Continuing Education
Access the latest clinical skills and research for Lactation & Fertility for Lactation & Breastfeeding professional training. These Lactation & Fertility online courses provide practice-changing skills and valuable perspectives from leading global experts. This Lactation & Fertility education has been accredited for a variety of CEUs / CERPs and can be accessed on-demand, at your own pace.
Carol Smyth is an IBCLC and Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist working in a busy private practice in Northern Ireland. With a background in psychology she is driven by a passion to promote attachment based and trauma informed care to families and babies. She is the author of the Why Infant Reflux Matters book, both an HCP education resource and a self-help book for families worried about their baby’s reflux symptoms. Her interest in fertility while breastfeeding began when breastfeeding and wanting to grow her own family, and finding that research on the topic was very scant. Pulling together what was available she created a series of resources on her website, which are highly viewed.
The impact of breastfeeding on fertility has been neglected by research in recent years. There can be significant variation in when the menstrual cycle returns for parents, which can impact their plans for family expansion. Some who conceived easily before breastfeeding, can find it much more difficult to conceive while breastfeeding. Some who struggle with recurrent miscarriage can wonder if breastfeeding is impacting their ability to carry to term. Many are left wondering whether to wean their nursling in order to conceive again, which can be a very difficult decision to make, when that conception is uncertain. This presentation will review the research on how breastfeeding affects the menstrual cycle, how fertility is initially suppressed and how it returns, the ongoing effect that breastfeeding can have on fertility, how to use breastfeeding as a contraceptive method (if desired), how to maximise chances of conception (if desired) and whether it may affect a pregnancy after conception has occurred.
