Date: 21 Oct 89 21:19:00
From: Denise Beahm
To:   Doug Drake
Subj: Re: Contraceptives

Concerning breastfeeding and contraception:
  
Medical studies have shown that breastfeeding does suppress menstruation 
and ovulation.  The amount of time the child is at the breast has an effect 
on how long that suppression will last.  One of the best books I've read on 
the subject is _Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing_ by Sheila Kippley 
(although I disagree with her politics and religious bias).  She mentions 
one study on a group of women who allowed their children to breastfeed 
until the child weaned him/herself -- the mean time for ovulation to 
reappear for this group of women was 14 months after childbirth.
  
My own personal experience has been that with one of my children, I 
ovulated for the first time after childbirth when he was 15 months old, and 
for another, I ovulated when she was 14 months old.  So, including the 9 
months of pregnancy, that was almost two years of not having to worry about 
glops, goops, thingamajigs, and what-nots to prevent pregnancy.
  
--Denise
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