The Relation Between Breastfeeding and Amenorrhea: Report of a Survey |
| |
| Authors: | SHEILA K. KIPPLEY BS JOHN F. KIPPLEY MA MAT |
| |
| Affiliation: | Sheila K. Kippley is the author of Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing (K Publishers, 1969), which is on the approved reading lists of the La Leche League International, the International Childbirth Education Association and the Natural Family Planning Association of Connecticut. She holds a BS degree from the University of California Medical Center at San Francisco.;John F. Kippley received an MA from the University of Minnesota, and an MA in theology from the University of San Francisco. He also has an MAT in applied theology from the School of Applied Theology at Berkeley. He is the author of Covenant, Christ and Contraception (Alba House, 1910). |
| |
| Abstract: | Nursing mothers completed questionnaires concerning various breastfeeding practices. First, those questionnaires lacking sufficient data were eliminated; then two more samplings were made, one of mothers who fed exclusively by breast for at least 5 months and the other of mothers who met the criteria for complete "natural mothering." Each sample was analyzed according to duration of breastfeeding and duration of amenorrhea, and the findings were compared. The all-inclusive sample averaged 10.2 months of amenorrhea; the sample of mothers who fed exclusively by breast, 11.6 months; the natural mothering sample, 14.6 months. The authors compared their results with those of other studies and concluded that breastfeeding, lactation amenorrhea and the resulting extended postpartum infertility comprise a delicate symbiotic relationship involving the ecologic interdependence of mother and child.(An extension of the conclusion is offered: the right of nursing mothers to know how certain cultural practices can upset such an ecology.) |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
