Alicia writes:
Hi, all:  One of my family practice residents is working on a community
project about breastfeeding and has encountered someone from a west
African country (sorry, don't know which country) who told her that in
her culture, sex is taboo during the first year of bf because it is
believed that the sperm will get into the milk and cause diarrhea in the
baby.  This sparked my resident's interest and she asked me if I knew of
any literature on such taboos.  She was also interested on what the
accepted postpartum time for resuming sex is in various cultures.

This is a widespread belief in West Africa, as well as many other parts of
the world.  Clearly designed to help breastfeeding and space children far
apart.  It sometimes extends several years, until the child is walking well,
talking well, or has completely weaned.  Sometimes people say it is the
literal sperm that get into the breast milk, other times peopel talk about
the "heat" of having sex as being the culprit, sometimes meaning the
physical, sweaty heat, and sometimes meaning the "heat" of sexual
excitement.  You can find descriptions of these beliefs in many articles --
practically any journal article that discusses breastfeeding in West Africa.
Such as:

Dettwyler, K.A.  1987  Breastfeeding and Weaning in Mali: Cultural Context
and Hard Data.  Social Science and Medicine 24(8):633-644.

Also try the book edited by Valerie Hull and Mayling Simpson titled
"Breastfeeding, Child Health, and Child Spacing: Cross-Cultural
Perspectives," published by Croom Helm of London, 1985.

Or look up the works of Dr. Caroline Bledsoe (cited at the end of "Beauty
and the Breast" from Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives).

This is a well-documented belief.


Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Nutrition
Texas A&M University