Natural Family Planning International

Mother-baby togetherness is important for natural child spacing.  In a Rwanda study, breastfeeding mothers had different conception rates depending on their lifestyles, but the bottle-feeding mothers’ conception rates were the same, whether the mothers lived in the city or in the country.  Why the difference in conception rates among the breastfeeding mothers?  Seventy-five percent (75%) of the city breastfeeding mothers conceived between 6 and 15 months after childbirth, while 75% of the rural breastfeeding mothers conceived between 24 and 29 months after childbirth.  According to the researchers, the reason the country mothers conceived much later was due to the amount of physical contact these mothers had with their babies.  The country mothers remained with their babies while the city mothers were leaving their babies with others. (Bonte, et al., International Journal of Fertility, 1974)

The frequency of breastfeeding, short intervals between feedings, and night feedings— all these factors have been proven to be extremely important for natural child spacing. [ample footnotes for these factors in NFP manual mentioned below.]

Because the research is so substantial, we believe that those involved with natural family planning, the family, the health of our nation, and the Church should teach the important health and baby-spacing benefits of ecological breastfeeding. Breastfeeding for all these reasons should especially be promoted among the poor. As Dr. Ruth Lawrence says:

Breastfeeding is the most precious gift a mother can give her infant.
If there is illness or infection, it may be a life-saving gift.
If there is poverty, it may be the only gift. (Breastfeeding Medicine, October 23, 2007)

The above is taken from the NFPI users’ manual, Natural Family Planning: The Complete Approach, page 110.

Tomorrow:  Witnesses
Sheila Kippley
The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding

Most of the breastfeeding research before the 1970s dealt with exclusive or mixed breastfeeding.  Several researchers noted that breastfeeding amenorrhea means ovulation is suppressed.  The research done by Dr. Leonard Remfry and Dr. Konald Prem showed that the breastfeeding mother has only a 5-6% chance of pregnancy during breastfeeding amenorrhea.  In such cases, ovulation occurred before a first menstruation. Their research papers are at the NFP International website.

In the early Sixties, La Leche League International taught that mothers who exclusively breastfed had a 1% chance of pregnancy before their first period occurred during those first 6 months. Rose Gioiosa also taught through La Leche League, her research, and her Boston ministry that couples could space their babies by offering only breast milk via direct breastfeeding for the first 9 months of life and only start to offer solids when the baby was 6 months old.  Currently the Lactational Amenorrhea Method is taught and has been researched in many sites throughout the world.  It claims at least a 98% effectiveness when mothers exclusively breastfeed, remain in amenorrhea, and the baby has not yet reached 6 months of age.  This method is similar to what La Leche League taught in the Sixties.

What is often missing in the research are behaviors that the mothers can do to space their babies naturally.  That is the purpose of teaching the Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding.  These standards involve behaviors that encourage frequent and unrestricted nursing.  Research shows that American mothers who ecologically breastfeed their babies will experience, on average, 14 to 15 months of breastfeeding amenorrhea.  The Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding are the following:

1. Exclusively Breastfeed for the First Six Months
2. Pacify Your Baby at Your Breasts
3. Don’t Use Bottles or 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
7. Avoid Any Practice That Restricts Nursing or Separates You from Your Baby

My book, The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding: The Frequency Factor, has a chapter on each Standard.  These chapters explain why each Standard is important.  Probably the most controversial is the Fourth Standard dealing with night feedings.  That chapter has the research showing the importance of night feedings AND the safe-sleeping rules. In addition, that chapter lists at least 20 benefits for the mother and baby co-sharing sleep.

Tomorrow:  Research on mother and baby co-sharing sleep.
Sheila Kippley
The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding

 No to early solids and liquids
Does breastfeeding space babies?  The answer is “It depends.”  Cultural breastfeeding?  Not really.  Ecological Breastfeeding?   Yes. For mothers who would like the natural spacing of Ecological Breastfeeding, the first step is exclusive breastfeeding.  When a mother provides all of her baby’s nourishment at her breasts and the greater part of her baby’s other sucking needs at her breasts, she will almost invariably experience the side effect of natural infertility. .  That means that if mothers are interested in natural birth spacing, they need to be taught to nurse frequently, nursing during the night and during a short nap, and avoid bottles and pacifiers and mother-baby separation.

Research has shown repeatedly that introduction of early solids and liquids during the early months are associated with an early return of fertility.  This was seen in the previous two blogs.

Witness: “This was the first baby exclusively breastfed for six months and also a baby-led weaning.  The baby nursed very infrequently, but gained three pounds every month for the first six months except one month he gained four pounds.  I am currently nursing our 17 month old without a return of my periods.”

No to pacifiers
Pacifiers are associated with an earlier return of menstruation. (European Journal o9f Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, June 2004).  There are benefits to not using a pacifier: likely avoidance of thumb or finger sucking; better and earlier speech, better dental and facial development, emotional satisfaction from increased contact with the mother, more frequent nursing during the day and night, and longer duration of breastfeeding.

Witness: “My third child had always been a difficult nurser. I nursed him anytime he wanted.  At 16 months we rid him of his pacifier, and nursing became a joy.  From personal experience of nursing both culturally and ecologically, the difference is night and day for both baby and me.  Ecological breastfeeding definitely made me feel closer to my baby.”

No to bottles
It is common today to hear of breastmilk-feeding mothers who only offer breast milk to their baby via pumping and using bottles.  That is, the baby does not receive breast milk directly from the breast.  Interestingly, there is new research which shows that direct breastfeeding is healthier than pumped breast milk given to the baby.  “Indirect breastfeeding was associated with lower overall milk microbiota richness and diversity when compared with direct breastfeeding.” This research group also “found that modes of infant feeding other than direct breastfeeding—including breastfeeding with some pumped breastmilk—were less beneficial than direct breastfeeding in terms of the increased risk of asthma at 3 years of age.” (Cell Host & Microbe, February 13, 2019)  The effects of pumping and suckling are not all the same. Bottles as well as pacifiers interfere with natural infertility.

Tomorrow:  various breastfeeding recommendations for breastfeeding infertility
Sheila Kippley
The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding