The short answer is that, yes, it is OK for you to breastfeed your baby while you are pregnant. There are no known health risks of allowing your baby to continue to breastfeed while pregnant. And, there is no indication that breastfeeding while pregnant will in any way lessen the amount of nutrition that your new baby gets from your body.

The main risk of breastfeeding during pregnancy has to do with the potential for contractions of the uterus. Research shows that breastfeeding while pregnant does promote uterine contractions. However, many other activities can produce uterine contractions, such as sexual activity. Unless your health care provider suggests that you have a high risk pregnancy and that uterine contractions could cause problems, you should be able to continue to breastfeed if you desire.

Many women who are breastfeeding and then become pregnant may decide to stop breastfeeding due to the tenderness that often occurs in the nipples during pregnancy. Some women have found success with reducing this difficulty by using breathing techniques as well as monitoring your child’s position while breastfeeding.

Sometime around the fourth or the fifth month of pregnancy, a woman’s milk supply may decrease. The flavor of your milk may change around this time as well. If your baby is under a year old, you will have to carefully monitor him to make sure that he is getting enough to eat. Otherwise, these changes might prompt an older child to begin to wean.

If you do decide that you want to wean once you are pregnant, it is best for your baby if you do it gradually. Once the new baby is born, some women choose to continue to breastfeed both the older child as well as the baby, sometimes known as “tandem nursing.” If you choose to tandem nurse, you should talk to your health care provider about a variety of resources that may be available to you to assist with this process.

Ultimately, choosing to continue breast feeding or choosing to stop breastfeeding is a decision that you must make. No one, whether it is a breastfeeding coach or a health care provider, can force you to decide one way or the other.

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