Natural Family Planning International

This is the last daily blog for the World Breastfeeding Week which began August 1^st.  If you want to start at the beginning of this series of blogs on breastfeeding and the natural spacing of babies, scroll down and check “Older Entries.”.

Below are some witnesses showing that natural spacing with breastfeeding does work!

“I am currently nursing my 17 month old and I have not had a period yet.”

“My son nurses on and off during the nights.  He is 22 months old and I had not had a period yet.”

“I read your book Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing when I was pregnant and I found it very inspiring and helpful.  I went 21 months without cycling after my first was born and 25 months after my second was born.  My third son is 7 months old and I am not cycling yet.  My husband and I do not really use the mucus method or the symptom thermal method.  I have found that breastfeeding is enough.”

“I’m new at NFP.  I didn’t practice ecological breastfeeding with my daughter and got pregnant with our son when our daughter was 6 months old.  I’m still nursing my son who is 13 months old and JUST got my cycle back.  I’ve been charting for a week now and I’m loving it.  So many of my friends use medical ways to control their fertility.  I feel it is so harmful to the body.  I’m so thankful for groups like this and glad I googled NFP.”

“I appreciated your encouragement to continue following child-led weaning.  I had a period a couple of days after writing to you.  It was the first one following 26 months of amenorrhea.  I was ecstatic, almost as excited as I was at age 14 when I had my first menstrual period!  I began charting immediately, ovulated and conceived.  I did wean our son during my pregnancy, but at a pace that suited us both.”

“The other day someone was complaining of cramps and discomfort with her period, and I mentioned that since my first baby I have never had all that cramping and pain with my periods.  Then I said: ‘But come to think of it, I’ve had so few periods.’  And my friend said, ‘You know, you are the truly liberated woman!’  How true!  So far I have had 11 periods in over 8 years.  That is with three babies.  Our 15 month old is nursing and I haven’t had a period yet.”

Not Just for Catholics

The most Seven Standard books sold are in groups of 100 and 200 to an Amish bookstore.  Below are comments from women of other faiths.

“You may wonder if I am of a faith that does not condone birth control means.  No, I am not, and I have in fact taken the pill for a year and a half between my two children.  My boys are over three years apart, as I remained sterile for nearly a year after those pills.  So I’ve found breastfeeding a lovely blessing in every way, and the infertility is only a convenient side effect.  We’ve decided on a third child at the earliest possible date—considering the breastfeeding situation, of course.”

“As a Protestant, ecological breastfeeding had never been presented to my husband and me as a logical way to have a family.  Our sweet little one is nine days old, and she will be the first one not to have a pacifier.  Many of my acquaintances are put right on the IUD after their first baby, and I think it’s a shame when God intended His way of spacing little ones.”

“My religion, Islam, encourages breastfeeding for two years and, according to some Muslim scholars, allows birth control to be practiced within that two-year period.  I feel that so many people ignore breastfeeding as a form of natural child spacing.  The techniques you describe are entirely compatible with my religion.”

“My daughter is 13 months old and we’re enjoying the breastfeeding relationship. I like the amenorrhea, and my husband and I are pleased with the absence of artificial birth control.  I am enjoying full-time mothering following four years as a social worker.  My husband is a new family practice physician.  He promotes breastfeeding at every opportunity and out of personal conviction does not prescribe the Pill nor fit IUDs for patients.”

“My husband is a pastor so we have many outside obligations to fulfill.  We take our seven-month-old baby everywhere and when she is hungry or needs pacifying, I am there with her.

Regarding breastfeeding, I was amazingly alone in my decisions to do this.  Even so-called “progressive” mothers rely on formula and/or pacifiers.  But I have found great support in women of my grandmother’s age.”

End of series for World Breastfeeding Week.
Sheila Kippley
The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding

Mother-baby togetherness is important for natural child spacing.  In a Rwanda study, breastfeeding mothers had different conception rates depending on their lifestyles, but the bottle-feeding mothers’ conception rates were the same, whether the mothers lived in the city or in the country.  Why the difference in conception rates among the breastfeeding mothers?  Seventy-five percent (75%) of the city breastfeeding mothers conceived between 6 and 15 months after childbirth, while 75% of the rural breastfeeding mothers conceived between 24 and 29 months after childbirth.  According to the researchers, the reason the country mothers conceived much later was due to the amount of physical contact these mothers had with their babies.  The country mothers remained with their babies while the city mothers were leaving their babies with others. (Bonte, et al., International Journal of Fertility, 1974)

The frequency of breastfeeding, short intervals between feedings, and night feedings— all these factors have been proven to be extremely important for natural child spacing. [ample footnotes for these factors in NFP manual mentioned below.]

Because the research is so substantial, we believe that those involved with natural family planning, the family, the health of our nation, and the Church should teach the important health and baby-spacing benefits of ecological breastfeeding. Breastfeeding for all these reasons should especially be promoted among the poor. As Dr. Ruth Lawrence says:

Breastfeeding is the most precious gift a mother can give her infant.
If there is illness or infection, it may be a life-saving gift.
If there is poverty, it may be the only gift. (Breastfeeding Medicine, October 23, 2007)

The above is taken from the NFPI users’ manual, Natural Family Planning: The Complete Approach, page 110.

Tomorrow:  Witnesses
Sheila Kippley
The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding

Most of the breastfeeding research before the 1970s dealt with exclusive or mixed breastfeeding.  Several researchers noted that breastfeeding amenorrhea means ovulation is suppressed.  The research done by Dr. Leonard Remfry and Dr. Konald Prem showed that the breastfeeding mother has only a 5-6% chance of pregnancy during breastfeeding amenorrhea.  In such cases, ovulation occurred before a first menstruation. Their research papers are at the NFP International website.

In the early Sixties, La Leche League International taught that mothers who exclusively breastfed had a 1% chance of pregnancy before their first period occurred during those first 6 months. Rose Gioiosa also taught through La Leche League, her research, and her Boston ministry that couples could space their babies by offering only breast milk via direct breastfeeding for the first 9 months of life and only start to offer solids when the baby was 6 months old.  Currently the Lactational Amenorrhea Method is taught and has been researched in many sites throughout the world.  It claims at least a 98% effectiveness when mothers exclusively breastfeed, remain in amenorrhea, and the baby has not yet reached 6 months of age.  This method is similar to what La Leche League taught in the Sixties.

What is often missing in the research are behaviors that the mothers can do to space their babies naturally.  That is the purpose of teaching the Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding.  These standards involve behaviors that encourage frequent and unrestricted nursing.  Research shows that American mothers who ecologically breastfeed their babies will experience, on average, 14 to 15 months of breastfeeding amenorrhea.  The Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding are the following:

1. Exclusively Breastfeed for the First Six Months
2. Pacify Your Baby at Your Breasts
3. Don’t Use Bottles or Pacifiers
4. Sleep with Your Baby for Night Feedings
5. Sleep with Your Baby for a Daily-Nap Feeding
6. Nurse Frequently Day and Night
7. Avoid Any Practice That Restricts Nursing or Separates You from Your Baby

My book, The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding: The Frequency Factor, has a chapter on each Standard.  These chapters explain why each Standard is important.  Probably the most controversial is the Fourth Standard dealing with night feedings.  That chapter has the research showing the importance of night feedings AND the safe-sleeping rules. In addition, that chapter lists at least 20 benefits for the mother and baby co-sharing sleep.

Tomorrow:  Research on mother and baby co-sharing sleep.
Sheila Kippley
The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding