Postpartum amenorrhea in selected developing countries: Estimates from contraceptive prevalence surveys

Abstract

Data collected in contraceptive prevalence surveys for Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Barbados, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Peru on how soon following childbirth menstruation returned provide the basis for national‐level estimates of the duration of postpartum amenorrhea. Two somewhat different techniques are used for estimating median and mean durations of postpartum amenorrhea. The results are compared with information indicating patterns of breastfeeding. The analysis indicates considerable cross‐national variation in the mean and median duration of postpartum amenorrhea and suggests that estimating postpartum amenorrhea from information on breastfeeding alone could be misleading.