Abstract
Background: Breastfeeding mothers experience widely different durations of breastfeeding amenorrhea. Some have a first menses by three months; others one or two years later. Research studies, both prospective and retrospective, were reviewed to determine if breastfeeding patterns affect the duration of breastfeeding amenorrhea. Studies from the 1940s up to the 21stth century show that only frequent suckling provides a significant delay of fertility. The type called ecological breastfeeding provides, on average, 14 to 15 months of breastfeeding amenorrhea.
Conclusion: Breastfeeding types need to be defined. The Church should promote and teach ecological breastfeeding as a desirable option for natural family planning. Eco-breastfeeding involves no abstinence, offers many benefits to mother and baby, is ecologically sound, and provides extended natural infertility. God does have a natural plan for spacing babies.
Let’s start with a simple question. Does God Himself have a plan for the natural spacing of babies through breastfeeding? In other words, has God Himself created woman in such a way that the suckling of her infant at her breasts will delay the return of her fertility to produce a natural spacing of births? The answer is YES, but only IF the breastfeeding involves frequent and unrestricted nursing. This natural spacing of babies is provided without sexual abstinence.
John and Sheila Kippley
(World NFP Congress, Milan, Italy, June 13, 2015. The following 7 blogs for World Breastfeeding Week are taken from our paper at this congress.)
From July 19th to the evening of August 7th (NFP Awareness Week through World Breastfeeding Week) anyone can purchase the following printed books at a 40% discount at lulu:
Natural Family Planning: The Complete Approach (coil edition preferred for learners)
The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding: The Frequency Factor
Battle-Scarred: Justice Can Be Elusive
Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing
An additional 10% discount is offered by lulu through the end of August 3rd. Code when ordering is INTERNET. Thus anyone ordering a Kippley print book can receive a 50% discount through the end of August 3rd.