The contraceptive potential of lactation for Bangladeshi women

Abstract

In Bangladesh, long durations of intensive breast-feeding have traditionally resulted in extended durations of postpartum amenorrhea and long intervals between births even in the absence of contraception. For example, the national Bangladesh Fertility Survey (BFS) of 1975 reported a median duration of postpartum amenorrhea of 14.6 months, while analyses of data from the 1989 BFS suggest that lactational amenorrhea still has an important contraceptive effect, reducing fertility overall by 35%. Findings are presented from an analysis of longitudinal survey data conducted to gain insight into the issue of lactational protection against pregnancy among Bangladeshi women. Data were drawn from surveillance systems maintained in 2 research sites of the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh: the Record Keeping System of the Matlab MCH-FP project treatment area and the Urban Surveillance System of the Dhaka slum study area of the Urban Health Extension Project. The results from both study populations indicate a high degree of protection against pregnancy for amenorrheic women.