Contraceptives and Breast Feeding?

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Nooooo.....

I breastfed my daughter for 18 months and I didn't take any contraceptives. She didn't gain much weight until she was on solids. Slow weight gain (or some weight loss) in breastfed babies is very common, so that's probably why that happened to you. The weight charts are based on average babies and were compiled at a time when bottle feeding was the norm. So they are very skewed and cause a lot of stress for many breastfeeding mums (including me). Maybe your mum is still living with that anxiety. Has she read about the connection between birth control and autism somewhere?

I understand very well her feelings. I spent days and months wondering what I did wrong to cause autism to my son. Something I ate (like sushi), something I did (like jogging or stay too much near my computer). I stopped doing this because it's useless and it's wrong. It's wrong because nobody knows why you or my son were born autistics.
I think she needs to rationalize it and think it's not her fault, because he couldn't control something she didn't know.

Claudia has a good point.

And I'm pretty sure the contraceptives had nothing to do with your AS.

I never went on contraceptives while I was breastfeeding and I still have an AS child.

Personally, I like to wonder about how all that fire retardant my son must have digested (chewing on his approved sleepwear) might have affected things, but I am actually convinced that at least 90% of his condition is simple genetics; maybe 10% worsened or added by environmental factors, and that is pure speculation on my part, simply because logic seems to point in the direction of all that stuff entering into things somewhere, we just don't yet know exactly where.

I am also getting much more interested in the dietary side of things, since so many with AS are realizing they have digestive issues, and I'm wondering how that might have come about. A recent article about how antibiotics may be permanently changing all those mini-microbes that are supposed to live in our bodies has had me wondering ...

But, point being: there is nothing useful to be gained by overly fretting on one particular potential factor. If there are environmental factors, they are likely to be much more subtle than, "I went on contraceptives while breast feeding." While that sort of thing is convenient for a parent to latch onto, there is no scientific evidence to support it, that I've heard. If there were any simple single environmental factors, I do think there would be big red flags out there by now.

I'm in the genetic/prenatal camp - I believe autism occurs at a very early point in development. It is unlikely hormones transmitted through breast milk had anything to do with your autism.

So many parents have this pervasive feeling of guilt and with no clear cut answers, they are left to wonder and assign blame. some blame themselves, some blame vaccines and the government, some grasp at any straw to take the guilt away from themselves. People do not seem willing to accept that autism may just be a normal variable and there is no blame to assign. And blame gets no one anywhere anyway. You have the absolutely right perspective. I hope you can find a way to help your mother away from this burden of misplaced guilt.

My Mom did not breastfeed nor was on the pill, and I still have autism.

Some could argue that maybe being bottlefed is the culprit. Since most kids my age around here were bottlefed and I knew 0 autistic people until this year (and still 0 my own age), I would say that is a slim chance.

I don't think anyone or anything is to blame. It just happens.