Breastfeeding and Family Planning: Meaningful Integration of Services

Abstract

Argues that breastfeeding should be promoted by family planning workers because of its fertility-suppressing effects and its nutritional and anti-infective advantages which enhance child health and survival, encouraging women to choose family planning. Breastfeeding is a natural starting point for integration of health and nutrition activities with family planning programs because in addition to its other benefits, breastfeeding is a way to lengthen birth intervals with a high degree of cultural acceptance. Promoting breastfeeding reinforces accepted practice in many cultures where breastfeeding is explicitly practiced to delay conception. Women often cite the desire to protect the health of their children through prolonged breastfeeding as a major motive for accepting additional contraception. Health services have an opportunity to reverse the trend to artificial feeding by providing information and support to women and adjusting institutional routines to encourage breastfeeding. Promotion of breastfeeding by family planning clinics should be sensitive to local community conditions. A community diagnosis concerning breastfeeding attitudes and practices conducted by the health/family planning service should form the basis of a culturally appropriate service delivery system tailored to local needs. Stress should be placed on good maternal nutrition.