Breast‐feeding: Its effects on post‐partum amenorrhea

Abstract

Data is presented on lactation and post‐partum amenorrhea for 323 women in Banaras, India, ages 15–35 who had one live birth and for 250 women with two live births. Data on prolonged breast‐feeding habits and amenorrhea show that the mean duration of lactation is about two‐and‐a‐half times the mean duration of post‐partum amenorrhea. It appears that an increase in the duration of breast‐feeding is accompanied by an increase in the length of post‐partum amenorrhea. The average period of amenorrhea was shorter in cases where lactation ceased because of infant mortality under age three months. Lactation and post‐partum amenorrhea have coefficients of correlation of 0.275 and 0.257 in the case of first and second births respectively. While small, the figures are statistically significant. The use of gamma also showed that lactation probably has some effect on post‐partum amenorrhea.