Nishmat's Women’s Health and HalachaIn memory of Chaya Mirel bat R' Avraham

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Contraceptive options (breastfeeding, staining on minipill)

16 January, 2022
Question:

Hi, I’m 11 weeks after the birth of my baby BH and started the minipill 4 weeks post partum, as I am fully breast feeding. I’ve been having a lot of staining issues, twice almost making it to Mikveh before starting to count again. This last time, using a lot of heterim from our Rov I made it to Mikveh and then immediately started staining afterwards, I ignored it for a couple days (coloured underwear, not looking etc) before a full blown period ensued, making me a niddah, again.

I have 4 questions;
1) How reliable is fully nursing as a form of birth control especially if my baby is going longer stretches as night?
2) Is it less effective now that I’ve had a period?
3) Does this period indicate I’m not going to nurse clean or could the minipill have caused it?
4) Will stopping the pill cause extended bleeding/do I have any other options?


Answer:

Mazal tov on the birth of your baby!

We are sorry to hear of your ongoing staining issues.

1-2. Please see our site’s discussion here of the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM).

3. Staining is fairly common on the progesterone-only pill, but it can also happen to women fully nursing. There’s no way to be certain whether the pill alone caused the staining.

4. Stopping the pill can also be associated with staining.

Your options include staying on the pill (being careful to take it at the same time every day, and perhaps consulting with your doctor about taking bioflavonoids or even an extra half pill every twelve hours after a regular dose to mitigate staining), or going off of this pill and moving to another contraceptive method. All options should be discussed with your physician. You can learn more about contraceptive options and halacha under “Family Planning” on our site.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance. If you haven’t yet, we also suggest reading our site’s articles on staining and toilet paper, which may help you avoid becoming niddah unnecessarily.

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