Natural Family Planning International

The purpose of this article has been only to present evidence that proper, ecological breastfeeding has a natural side effect of extended infertility.  The woman who is willing to give of herself to her baby should know the ecological requirements.  Those who breastfeed because it’s a cultural fad or who succumb to the erroneous information put out by many doctors (“start cereals and liquids at two weeks”), or who pick up the cultural practices such as the pacifier or the race to get the baby to sleep for twelve hours straight through—-well, these mothers are not going to experience the effects intended by nature simply because they are not following the natural plan.

We don’t think that a mother should breastfeed just to get the side effect of natural infertility.  We believe she should be interested in doing what is really best for her baby—the best nutrition, the best and warmest pacification and emotional enrichment, and frequent togetherness.  Then, because she is attending to her baby with some real attention to his needs instead of her own, she will almost always have a long time to spend with him before she could get pregnant with another.  It seems to us that that’s the way God planned it.

(A 30% discount is now offered on all Kippley print books at lulu through August 7 in recognition of NFP week and World Breastfeeding Week.  In addition, Sophia is offering a 25% discount on Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood through August 7.  The code for this discount is “motherhood.” Ignatius Press is offering Sex and the Marriage Covenant for only $6.00 through August 31.)

John and Sheila Kippley
As previously noted, the daily blogs for this NFP Week were taken from an article dated December 31, 1971.

Dr. Konald Prem while at the University of Minnesota Medical School noted that back in 1895 a researcher found that there was about a 6% chance of pregnancy while breastfeeding prior to menses return.  Dr. Prem’s own research (1971) corroborates this.  [Both of these research papers are available at the NFPI website.]  Thus the evidence indicates that the mother who follows the ecologically natural mothering program of nursing her baby will have a 94-95% probability of remaining infertile prior to the return of menses.  It is close to 100% during the first six months or “total breastfeeding” months when the “total mothering” program is followed.

A couple educated in sympto-thermal observation can likewise ascertain to a very large degree the approach of  ovulation that occurs prior to the first menses period.  More research and writing needs to be done on the transitional phase from breastfeeding to the sympto-thermal method within the context of natural conception regulation for the nursing mother. (First printed in 1971)

(A 30% discount is now offered on all Kippley print books at lulu through August 7 in recognition of NFP week and World Breastfeeding Week.  In addition, Sophia is offering a 25% discount on Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood through August 7.  The code for this discount is “motherhood.”  Ignatius Press is offer Sex and the Marriage Covenant for only $6.00 through August 31.)

John and Sheila Kippley

The extent of natural infertility is not the same for all mothers.  We have recently completed a study of the relationship between breastfeeding and natural infertility which indicated a range of experience.  We took the return of menses as the most readily obvious sign of returning fertility.  The group who followed the criteria of natural mothering listed very briefly in the previous blog and described more fully in Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing (Sheila Kippley, 1969) averaged 14.6 months before menses returned after childbirth.  The vast majority of these mothers experienced their first post-partum period between 9 and 16 months, but one mother had her periods return at only six weeks post-partum.  (The next shortest times were 4 and 7 months.) Still, this short-timer had the signal of menses prior to ovulation, and this is important for couples engaged in natural family planning.  On the other end, we had mothers who experienced 27 and 30 months without periods while nursing. (First printed in 1971)

(A 30% discount is now offered on all Kippley print books at lulu through August 7 in recognition of NFP week and World Breastfeeding Week.  In addition, Sophia is offering a 25% discount on Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood through August 7.  The code for this discount is “motherhood.”)

John and Sheila Kippley