BREASTFEEDING AS FAMILY PLANNING

The history of family planning goes back to the ancient times. Voluntary control of fertility is especially important in modern society. Since a woman does not expect to have more than one or two children, most of their reproductive years are spent trying to prevent pregnancy. Effective control of reproduction is essential for a woman to achieve her individual goals other than childbearing. From a wider perspective, rapid increase in human population during this century threatens human existence.

Breastfeeding can be used as a family planning method and it can be effective depending on individual differences. Family planning and women’s needs should be taken into consideration during lactation. Ovulation is suppressed during lactation. Baby’s nursing increases the prolactin hormone levels, decreases the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus and the release of the luteinizing hormone (LH), and suppresses the development of the egg. While continuing to breastfeeding, a woman may ovulate after a certain period of time; but it is unlikely before six months, especially if she is not menstruating, and the baby is only breastfeeding without any additional food. For maximum protection, breastfeeding intervals should not exceed four hours during the day and six hours at night, and the amount of complementary food should not exceed 5 to 10% of the total amount of nutrition. Six-month pregnancy rates have been reported as 0.45 to 2.45% for the couples using only this method.