Postpartum Fertility: What you need to know, with Lisa Hendrickson-Jack

What are some signs that your fertility is returning after giving birth? How does breastfeeding suspend your cycle, and for how long? What should you consider when thinking about the spacing between pregnancies? Lisa Hendrickson-Jack has answers to this and so much more. Check it out!

To listen here, click the play button on the player above, or click the button below to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Play.

What we talked about:

• Distinguishing between bleeding and your period
• Signs that your fertility is back (hint- they happen BEFORE you even get your period)
• Understanding a regular cycle
• Understanding the suspended reality of your cycle postpartum
• Breastfeeding and cycle suspension
• The effects of on-demand breastfeeding vs. scheduled feedings
• Can you use breastfeeding to space the timing between babies?
• Why regular ovulation is important for optimal health
• Your hormonal profile postpartum
• Hormonal birth control vs non-hormonal birth control
• What’s your risk tolerance for pregnancy, and how does it impact the method you choose?
• Can “pulling out” be a reliable method? (Yup, we went there)
• What does a healthy postpartum menstrual cycle look like
• The transition from pregnancy to a healthy cycle
• Pregnancy spacing for health and fertility
• Pregnancy spacing and your long-term health
• Getting in touch with your own cycle

Mentioned links and other related articles*:

• FertilityFriday.com and the Fertility Friday podcast
• Lisa’s book: The Fifth Vital Sign
• Salivary Ferning
• Charting Basics – Using the Fertility Awareness method, from Fertility Friday
• Guide to Cervical Mucus
• How to Check Your Cervical Position Yourself for Optimal Fertility
• Long-held theory on human gestation refuted: Mother’s metabolism, not birth canal size, limits gestation, from Science Daily
• Postnatal Depletion – What It Is And How To Recover

Related podcasts:          

• Fertility Before & After Pregnancy, with Emily Varnam & Kelsey Knight
• Hormones After Birth, Dr. Jolene Brighten

Courtesy of Lisa Hendrickson-Jack

About Lisa Hendrickson-Jack

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack is a certified Fertility Awareness Educator and Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner who teaches women to chart their menstrual cycles for natural birth control, conception, and monitoring overall health. In her new book The Fifth Vital Sign, Lisa debunks the myth that regular ovulation is only important when you want children by recognizing the menstrual cycle as a vital sign. Drawing heavily from the current scientific literature, Lisa presents an evidence-based approach to fertility awareness and menstrual cycle optimization. She hosts the Fertility Friday podcast, a weekly radio show devoted to helping women connect to their fifth vital sign by uncovering the connection between menstrual cycle health, fertility, and overall health.

Head over to thefifthvitalsignbook.com to learn more and get the first chapter for free.
 

Title music: “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, from the Free Music Archive / CC BY (edited for length).

Sponsorship music: “Air Hockey Saloon” by Chris Zabriskie, from the Free Music Archive / CC BY (edited for length).