It is sometimes difficult to plan contraception with a woman who has just delivered a baby, because she is sometime not motivated in the week following delivery, feeling unable to contemplate intercourse because of perineal pain and other discomforts. Effective contraception should be used beginning with the 25th postpartum day because of the subsequent strong possibility of ovulation before the return of menstruation. The woman should be provided with as much information on contraception as possible during this period, and possible contraindications to specific methods should be sought, such as thromboembolic accidents, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, infection, ectopic pregnancy, abortion, and desire for subsequent pregnancy. No request for contraception should be ignored and the same method should not be imposed on all women. The topic of contraception should not be deferred until the postpartum check-up in the 2nd month, because 50% of women will have had intercourse by the end of the 2nd month, often unprotected. Local methods such as spermicides and condoms are effective when the couple is motivated and they are well accepted. The thromboembolic risk appears minimal when oral contraceptives (OCs) are begun on the 15th postpartum day for non-breastfeeding women. OCs should not be prescribed for women after prolonged bedrest, and women who previously used pills should have lipid and glucose tests before the 2nd month postpartum consultation. The low dose progestin pill should be preferred to the low dose combined pill if a potential thromboembolic risk exists. Infants of breastfeeding women using pills receive 1/500 of the estrogen dose administered to the mother and 1/1000 of the progestin dose. No effects of these doses have been found on the growth or genital development of infants, and modifications of milk composition are not constant. A low dose progestin pill beginning on postpartum day 20 may however be preferred. It is better to await the return of menses before inserting an IUD because of the danger of expulsion prior to that time. Local methods should not be the only ones recommended in the immediate postpartum period because of the possibility of poor acceptance and unwanted pregnancy resulting from incorrect use. Very high dose OCs should not be prescribed. Long acting injectable progestins should be avoided for breastfeeding women except in cases of serious psychic disturbance because the quantity of hormones entering the milk is much greater than with pills.