Average Duration Of Breastfeeding Research Articles

Postpartum amenorrhea in selected developing countries: estimates from contraceptive prevalence surveys.

Data collected in contraceptive prevalence surveys for Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Barbados, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Peru on how soon following childbirth menstruation returned provide the basis for national level estimates of the duration of postpartum amenorrhea. 2 somewhat different techniques are used for estimating median and mean durations of postpartum amenorrhea. The results are compared with information indicating patterns of breastfeeding. The analysis indicates considerable cross-national variation in the mean and median duration of postpartum amenorrhea and suggests that estimating postpartum amenorrhea from information on breastfeeding alone could be misleading. What is most striking about the results is how quickly postpartum amenorrhea appears to terminate in most of the countries. Only for Korean women is the median duration substantially above 1/2 a year. The results suggest that at least for most of the limited number of developing countries for which Westinghouse Contraceptive Prevalence Survey data are available, postpartum nonsusceptibility is providing protection against a new pregnancy for only a relatively short period following a birth for the majority of women. In all the countries with available data except Costa Rica, breastfeeding is close to universal, involving at least 90% of all children; in Costa Rica, only about 3/4 of children are ever breastfed. The average duration of breastfeeding is noticeably longer in the 3 Asian countries than in the Latin American ones.

Trends and Differentials in Breast Feeding: An Update

Analysis of the 1973 National Survey of Family Growth shows a continued downward trend in breast feeding by successive cohorts of American mothers. The downward trend is evident in both measures of incidence (ever-breast feeding) and duration of breast feeding for first and higher-order births. For all cohorts higher-order births are less likely to be breast fed than first births. However, breast feeding of higher-order births is typically of a longer duration. Differentials in breast feeding reveal strong associations with indicators of social class; women who are college graduates, who work as professionals, and who are married to professional husbands are most likely to breast-feed their infants. Differentials in average duration of breast feeding are often reversed from differentials in ever-breast feeding.

Breastfeeding in Thailand: Trends and Differentials, 1969-79

A series of national sample surveys conducted in Thailand between 1969 and 1979 provide documentation of the trends and differentials in breastfeeding practices among Thai women. The results indicate a moderate and relatively steady decline in the duration of breastfeeding among both rural and urban women in different educational categories. Urban/rural differences in breastfeeding practices are prominent throughout the period covered by the analysis. Moreover, there is a negative association between the use of mdoern health services for delivery and breastfeeding, especially in urban areas. Despite the reduction in the average duration of breastfeeding, both infant mortality and marital fertility have continued to decline concurrently with the shifts in infant feeding practices.

Recent trends in breast-feeding in Southern Finland.

A retrospective study on breast-feeding (BF) during 1962-77 has been carried out for the province of Uusimaa. The study was based on 35 815 child health records kept by community health centres. Information was entered in 76% of the records, the percentage improving from 52 to 94 during the study period. The average duration of BF was observed to decline steadily from 2.3 months in 1962 to 1.7 in 1971, increasing thereafter to 3.6 months by the end of the study. A similar pattern of slow decline turning to a sharp rise by 1971 can be seen in the percentage of mothers beginning BF, and various time categories of nursing. The observed increase in BF is attributed to changing general attitudes, which also play a role, as the increase in BF coincides with extensions of maternity leave from 2 to 7 months in the seventies. The results indicate a favourable response to efforts to promote BF and suggest that these efforts should be continued and intensified.

Prospective studies of the effect of breast feeding on incidence of infection and allergy.

The effect of exclusive breast feeding in the first few weeks after birth on infant morbidity due to infectious and allergic disorders was investigated in three separate prospective studies. In a rural community in India, breast-fed infants had a significantly lower incidence of respiratory infection, otitis, diarrhoea, dehydration and pneumonia. In an urban population in Canada, breast feeding was associated with a marked decrease in the occurrence of otitis and respiratory disease and to a lesser extent of diarrhoea and dehydration. In newborn siblings of children with atopic disease exclusively breast-fed for a minimum of six weeks, the incidence of eczema, recurrent wheezing, elevated serum IgE-antibodies to cow's milk, complement activation in vivo after milk challenge and hemagglutinating antibodies to beta-lactoglobulin was significantly lower compared with formula-fed matched group. These observations provide clinical data attesting the immunologic advantages of human milk.

Breastfeeding, Amenorrhea, and Abstinence in a Javanese Village: A Case Study of Mojolama

Factors that contribute to low fertility rates among Javanese women were investigated in a survey of 772 ever-married women in the village of Mojolama. The average duration of breast-feeding was 25.6 months, with the median being just over 26 months. 39% of the women reported that postpartum amenorrhea lasted not quite 27 months. More than 60% of the women believed, for various reasons, that they should abstain from sexual intercourse until weaning. Older women tended to abstain longer, as was the case with breast-feeding. On the average, breast-feeding for 17 months corresponded to a birth interval of 18-23 months, while breast-feeding for 28 months corresponded to a birth interval of 48 months or more. Certain cross-cultural comparisons regarding these factors are made, and the implications of the findings for family planning programs are discussed.

THE EXTENT OF BREAST FEEDING IN GREAT BRITAIN IN 1946, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE HEALTH AND SURVIVAL OF CHILDREN

Information of the extent of breast-feeding in Great Britain in 1946 , with special reference to the health and survival of children is provided from a 2nd maternity survey in 1948, of 4669 women, 2 years after the birth of their babies. The average mother in 1946 breast-fed her baby 4.2 plus or minus .06 months. Average duration of breast-feeding was the same for each birth order. There were only small social class differences in the maintenance of breast-feeding although in the 9th month the rate of weaning was significantly lower among babies in bad home conditions (p less than .05). The risk of conception was lower among women breast-feeding. Failure to establish lactation was more frequent in nursing homes but those confined there were more successful at maintaining it. Breast infections were more frequent after hospital confinements (7%) compared to home confinements (4.6%). Babies taken to welfare centers had higher weaning rate during the first 6 months of life. Differences between the mortality of bottle-fed and breast-fed infants were insignificant. However, serious infection of the gastrointestinal tract was more frequently seen among bottle-fed bab ies (primarily among babies of extreme birth weight), and babies were more likely to have mild attacks of diarrhea during the switch from breast to bottle. Bottle-fed babies were more liable to lower respirato ry diseases, bronchitis, and pneumonia during the first 9 months. Immunity to measles developed in babies breast-fed in the early months which lasted throughout the 2nd year. At 2 years of age bottle-fed babies tended to be slightly heavier than breast-fed babies and tended to walk at a later date.