Natural Family Planning International

Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood

Beginning in 2004, after we were no longer associated with the Couple to Couple League (CCL), I had the time to do more writing.  For years mothers asked me if I would ever write another book.  I always said “no,” but now I had the time.  I wanted to see more Catholic mothers nurse and thought that if I gave a spiritual emphasis to my topic, there might be more Catholic parents open to breastfeeding their baby.

In the past I spoke mainly to La Leche League and NFP groups, but in the more recent years, I had received invitations to speak at Catholic gatherings.  I began using Scripture and the encyclicals when speaking about breastfeeding.  For example, at a weekend retreat on The Gospel of Life, I talked about breastfeeding using only this encyclical.  Those “spiritual” talks were the basis for my new book, Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood (Sophia Institute Press, 2005).

There are too many Catholics who believe that formula is just as good.  After all, they say, “I bottle-fed all my children and they turned out okay.”  But a Catholic should also ask, “Is there any body of biblical or Church teaching on this subject?”  I found there was breastfeeding support from Church leaders, Scripture, and the encyclicals.

As John and I see it, parents are obliged to make a reasonable effort to do what is best for their children, and there’s no doubt that breastfeeding is certainly best.  There’s more than ample research that shows that formula is a poor choice for babies.  Breastfeeding & Catholic Motherhood provides the strong evidence that all babies should be breastfed both for short-term as well as long-term benefits.

Another concern is that many persons have been too quick to say, “We know that that doesn’t work!”  The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding was written to answer those objections and to show that breastfeeding does space babies.

When the new management of the Couple to Couple League dropped the three key charisms that we brought to the founding of CCL in 1971, we formed a new organization called NFP International.  By doing so, we were able to keep these concepts alive, especially the teaching of ecological breastfeeding which CCL had dropped.

There are several key points about breastfeeding and natural family planning, points that I have stressed repeatedly over the years.

∙  Ecological breastfeeding is the only type of breastfeeding associated with extended breastfeeding infertility or natural child spacing.  It truly is a natural family planning option.  God does have a natural plan for spacing babies.

∙  A nursing mother does not have to wean her baby in order to use systematic NFP once her fertility returns.

∙   Extended breastfeeding and extended amenorrhea are the norms, and by extended I mean at least a year of each.

∙  Breastfeeding brings both physical and emotional benefits to both mother and baby.   Experts emphasize the importance of the presence of the mother during the first three years of life for optimal emotional development of the baby.  Prolonged lactation ensures the presence of the mother.  God’s ways are very good.

∙  The Catholic Church has promoted breastfeeding and there are valid reasons for this. Any priest or mother interested in teaching ecological breastfeeding in their parish can use Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 6 of the NFPI manual.  There is no need to undergo teacher training for this.  Or one can contact Catholic Nursing Mothers League.  This organization promotes ecological breastfeeding and provides resources to aid discussion at breastfeeding meetings.

Sheila Kippley
Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood
The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding

Our two studies show that American nursing mothers who followed the Seven Standards averaged 14½ months of amenorrhea.  (J. and S. Kippley, “The Relation between Breastfeeding and Amenorrhea: Report of a Survey,” JOGN Nursing, Nov.-Dec. 1972, 15-21.  Also “The Spacing of Babies with Ecological Breastfeeding,” International Review, Spring/Summer 1989, 107-116.)   These and other studies on breastfeeding infertility are available at our website, www.nfpandmore.org.

Later studies concerning ecological breastfeeding were done by H. William Taylor. His latest research confirmed that ecological breastfeeding certainly spaces babies.  Mothers who nursed in a cultural way had a median time of 8.2 months before their first menses, while  mothers who nursed more in line with ecological breastfeeding had a median time of 12.8 months before their first menses.  (“Continuously Recorded Suckling Behavior and Its Effect on Lactational Amenorrhoea,” Journal of Biosocial Science, 1999, 31: 289-310)

In this study Taylor also established a sub-group of mothers whose practices were close to the Seven Standards.  That is, Taylor eliminated those mothers who returned to work outside the home, who did not sleep with their baby at night, who introduced solids before six months, and who nursed less than a median of 9 times a day in the first three months.  Thus he ended up with a group of mothers who were following a more ecological breastfeeding program; these 55 mothers had a median wait of 15.9 months before their first menses.  (Personal correspondence after previous research was submitted to Cambridge University for publication, May 27, 1998)

From the feedback I have received, there are many nursing mothers using natural child spacing and systematic natural family planning as a result of our books, writings and talks. My husband also promotes the breastfeeding aspect of natural family planning whenever he has a chance to do so.  Both of us continually remind others that breastfeeding is one way to experience natural baby spacing.  In our opinion ecological breastfeeding  should be included in any discussion or teaching on natural family planning.

Worldwide, breastfeeding is used much more than systematic NFP to space children naturally.  Since the beginning of the human race and up to the early 1900s, breastfeeding was the only option in accord with Catholic teaching except total abstinence.   All couples deserve to know this option as well as systematic NFP.  In other words, breastfeeding is an excellent NFP choice.

Sheila Kippley
Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood
The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding

The Seven Standards better define what kind of mothering is involved with ecological breastfeeding. That’s why I placed a stronger emphasis on them in my latest book, The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding: The Frequency Factor.  In this book each chapter is dedicated to one Standard.  I also noticed that this strong emphasis on the Seven Standards eliminated the counseling call from mothers who said they were doing ecological breastfeeding but had an early return of menstruation.  A professional or NFP teacher only has to go through each Standard in reviewing a possible cause of the early return.  The Standards are also helpful when teaching natural child spacing.

The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding are these:
1.Do exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life; don’t use other liquids ad solids.
2.Pacify your baby at your breasts.
3.Don’t use bottles and pacifiers.
4.Sleep with your baby for night feedings.
5.Sleep with your baby for a daily-nap feeding.
6.Nurse frequently day and night, and avoid schedules.
7.Avoid any practice that restricts nursing or separates you from your baby.

Nursing mothers who follow the Seven Standards of ecological breastfeeding have one of the best natural family planning methods.  It’s so natural that it is hard to see it as a method, but today people like to talk in those terms.   As with the Lacational Amenorrhea Method, any vaginal bleeding can be ignored during the first 56 days in determining amenorrhea if the mother is exclusively breastfeeding or doing ecological breastfeeding.

Most importantly, ecological breastfeeding provides extended natural infertility.  During the first three months postpartum, the chance of pregnancy occurring is practically nil if the ecologically breastfeeding mother remains in amenorrhea while following the Seven Standards.  During the next three months postpartum, there is only a 1% chance of pregnancy if the ecologically breastfeeding mother continues to remain in amenorrhea while following the Seven Standards.

Sometime between six and eight months of age, the baby begins to take some solid food.  As the American Academy of Pediatrics stated in their “Breastfeeding Policy Statement”  of February 2005, exclusively breastfed babies “may not be ready to accept other foods until approximately 8 months of age” (p. 499).  Once solid foods are begun, there are only Six Standards operating for ecological breastfeeding.  Breastfeeding infertility usually continues, however, because the amount of nursing is usually not decreased at first and frequent, unrestricted nursing continues.

Specifics of Natural Child Spacing to be continued next week.

Sheila Kippley
Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood
The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding