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The recovery of fertility during breast-feeding in Assiut, Egypt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Mamdouh M. Shaaban ,
Kathy I. Kennedy ,
Gamal H. Sayed ,
Sharaf A. Ghaneimah  and
Aly M. Abdel-Aleem
Mamdouh M. Shaaban
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Assiut University, Egypt
Kathy I. Kennedy
Affiliation:
Family Health International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
Gamal H. Sayed
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Assiut University, Egypt
Sharaf A. Ghaneimah
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, Assiut University, Egypt
Aly M. Abdel-Aleem
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Assiut University, Egypt
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Summary

A longitudinal study of twenty-six breast-feeding and twelve non-breast-feeding postpartum women was conducted in Assiut, Egypt in order to determine the time that ovulation resumed after childbirth, and the effect of breast-feeding frequency on the period of lactational anovulation. Breastfeeding women experienced the onset of follicular development, vaginal bleeding, ovulation and pregnancy significantly later than women who did not breast-feed. Ovulatory and non-ovulatory breast-feeders reported similar frequencies of breast-feeding episodes. The introduction of dietary supplements commonly preceded ovulation. An algorithm using three simple variables observable to the breast-feeding mother was found to predict up to 100% of the first ovulations. All breast-feeding women who did not give supplements and did not have a vaginal bleeding episode by 6 months postpartum were anovular by strict criteria for ovulation. Ovulation did not precede bleeding or supplementation in the women who experienced these events before 6 months, yielding a highly effective formula for preventing unplanned pregnancy by the informed use of breast-feeding.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , January 1990 , pp. 19 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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References

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