Levonorgestrel emergency contraceptive pills use during breastfeeding; effect on infants’ health and development

AbstractObjective: The current study aims to evaluate the effect of the use of single packet of levonorgestrel emergency contraceptive pills (LNG-ECPs) during breastfeeding on the health and development of the nursing infant.Materials and methods: The current study was an ancillary observational cohort study carried out in a university hospital. We counseled all women delivered and planning birth-space and breastfeed for at least 1 year for participation during postpartum hospital stay. Eligible participants for inclusion in the randomized controlled trial (NCT 01111929) were allocated to receive adequate Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) counseling (LAM-only group) or the LAM counseling in addition to counseling about LNG-ECPs use (LAM + emergency contraception (EC) group). These pills were to be used once if unprotected intercourse did occur after expiry of any of the LAM prerequisites and before the couples started to use a reliable method of contraception. We included the first 100 women in the LAM ...