Heidi

Regarding the old info you found about percentages of breastfeeding 
mothers menstruating.... "I found following percentages: 9-30% of 
women that begin menstruating again at month 0-3 while breastfeeding, 
and 19-53% at 6 months, with some not having their cycle back until 
they fully weaned. These numbers seem quite dated: (1972, 1987 and 
1999) Would any of you have more recent references?" .......the word 
that jumps out at me here is "breastfeeding".  As we know there is 
breastfeeding (any, even once a day ...) and exclusive breastfeeding 
(nothing else but breastmilk) and the effects for the mother's 
hormonal profile and fertility are very different.

The Lactational Amenorrhea Method, which uses _exclusive_ 
breastfeeding to inhibit lactation suggests it is 98.8% effective in 
inhibiting ovulation, but it's no longer effective when the baby is 
older than 6 months, the mother begins feeding her baby other foods 
or liquids regularly, she has intervals of 4 hours or more between 
breastfeeds during the day and when her baby sleeps through the night 
taking an interval once a day of 6 hours or longer, and her baby is 
older than 6 months, see http://www.waba.org.my/resources/lam/index.htm

The mom you're helping could perhaps use these criteria of LAM in 
reverse to increase her chances of achieving another pregnancy?

Pamela Morrison IBCLC
Rustington, England

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