Nursing practices and lactation amenorrhoea

The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that nursing behavior is an independent underlying factor of importance in duration of amenorrhea. Multivariate analysis is applied to information on frequency and duration of nursing practices maternal age and nutritional status assessed by weight for height in a sample of 32 middle-class American women with a wide range of nursing behavior. The mothers were followed for 2 years postpartum data being collected during 8 home visits by interview and by nursing records kept by the mothers. Amenorrhea lasted 1.3 to 27.1 months in the sample as a whole. Those women who nursed frequently (8/day) during exclusive breastfeeding remained amenorrheic longer than infrequent nursers introduced supplements later and did not resume menses as promptly thereafter. They continued an hour or more of night nursing during supplemented nursing. Duration of exclusive nursing and night nursing after supplementation were the major influences on duration of amenorrhea. This strong association favors the hypothesis that the underlying factor is nursing behavior. Mothers age weight-for-height and nursing frequency before supplementation showed no significant effect. Those women who introduced supplements late and maintained at least an hour of night nursing had a prolonged period of amenorrhea. The median for this group was 6-10 months longer than that for those who started supplements early and/or reduced subsequent night nursing to less than an hour. The recommendation that women must suckle their babies at least 5 times a day with a total suckling duration of more than 65 minutes per day is not sufficient. The findings reported here suggest that if women nurse exclusively for the 1st half year maintaining night nursing after introducing supplements is important. If they supplement earlier then they will lose the contraceptive protection of lactation irrespective of how they nurse

Amenorrhea · Breastfeeding · Obstetrics · Pregnancy · Breastfeeding Practices and Influences · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum · Medicine · Nursing · Pediatrics