Can birth control help fertility?

[twirlyfry]

Hi, we're not trying right now, but we Bd'd when I ovulated this month. I wasn't really thinking about getting pregnant or really hoping, when pregnancy symptoms started to hit me. I had a serious increase in libido. I hadn't felt like that since right before I found out I was pregnant with my 11 mo old ds. I also recall feeling like that before I found out I was pregnant with my 6 yr old dd. I felt emotional, had bleeding gums, blue veins on my chest, low back pain and then the nausea. Well, af came today. I'm wondering if I had a chemical pregnancy. I got pregnant with both of my kids as soon as I stopped birth control. Is it possible that birth control would help me conceive? My husband and I had unprotected sex 5 months before I conceived my son around the time I was fertile and nothing. I then started birth control and stopped a few months later and I became pregnant. I'm also still nursing quite often, so that could be it too. Anyways, I'm just curious if anyone knew anything about birth control helping or had the same kind of experience. Thanks!

[brichole1214]

I don't know that BC pills help with fertility but i do know that they are supposed to regulate your period to where you have 21 to 28 day cycles.  I personally got pregnant on birth control 8 years ago this coming march but my doctor had been changing my birth control every three months for a year when i got pregnant with my DD.  You more than likely were not pregnant IF you were taking your pill the way they were prescribed.  Now there is always a .9 to 1% chance of getting pregnant even if you are taking them the same time everyday.  Birth control is supposed to keep you from ovulating so there shouldn't be a chance to get pregnant while using them.  I know that i haven't given you much but that's what I know. 

[aleatha5]

I don't think so, I know that it can regulate your period, but I think it actually -- in many women -- has the opposite affect because it can suppress ovulation even after you are off of the pill.  That happened to me, it took me six months of being off the pill before my periods regulated (I wasn't ttc, I got an IUD because I am really sensitive to the artificial hormones and couldn't take any more of them).  

[twirlyfry]

I'm not currently on the pill, I'm just curious because it seems so easy for me to get pregnant right off the pill, I'm wondering if I go on it for a couple months and then stop, I'll get pregnant, lol. The thought I had was that maybe I had a hormone deficiency and that the BC regulated it and helped to sustain a pregnancy after I stopped taking them. Maybe it's just coincidence. Figured I'd see if anyone else only got pregnant immediately after stopping BC pills. Thanks for the replies ladies :-)

[LivingSky]

Typically, I'd have to say no. Many times the pill will prevent an ovulatory cycle for a few months after stopping taking it. It can take from 6 months to a year for the hormones from the pill to stop messing with your cycles.

Now that said, on the off chance that you have the precise hormone deficiency that the pills help even out, then maybe - but you would be far safer to see a doctor and get your hormone levels checked.

There are a lot of women on here who feel that taking the pill throughout their lives is what has made it hard for them to get or stay pregnant now. It would be awful if you took the pill just to see if it helped and it did the opposite

[Emaya]

I've been thinking about going back on birth control for a couple months to try exactly what twirlyfry is talking about. I conceived my DD one month after going off the pill in December '07. We weren't even trying to get pregnant. Now we've been trying for almost 18 months and have been to two different doctors, have taken countless tests (all of which come back as normal or even optimal in DH's case). Secondary unexplained infertility. So yes, I'm thinking about doing what worked the first time around... I just don't like the idea of taking myself out of the game for a month or two!

[Northstar78]

Originally Posted by aleatha5 

I don't think so, I know that it can regulate your period, but I think it actually -- in many women -- has the opposite affect because it can suppress ovulation even after you are off of the pill.  

I heard the same thing from several of my doctors-that bcp can regulate your period but after stopping them it might take a few months for your body to "reset."

I've been on several different bcp and it always took my body a few months to adjust to them once I started - i don't know if going on them short-term will help. I didn't expect to be on them for so long (10+ years) but I had to for medical reasons.