I am firmly in the camp of "not menstruating during breastfeeding" is
NORMAL, even for extended lengths of time.  There are so many factors at
play: weight, hormone levels, etc., that every woman is different.  And yes,
as another poster said, research (I don't have it handy at my fingertips now
either) has hypothesized that the one of the reasons breasdtfeeding women do
NOT get as many reproductive cancers is that they have fewer periods over
their lifetimes (that goes along with starting ones periods later, having
children earlier, and having more children, who are also breastfed for
extended times).  It certainly makes a lot of sense to me.  And lets flip
the argument...it is NOT normal for women to start their periods at a young
age (8 or 9) and then wait until their 30'-40's to have their first baby,
then put said baby on formula and immediately get pregnant again!!!

Anecdotal evidence of one:  My 3 children are each spaced, naturally,
between 3-4 years apart.  My periods did NOT return until after each child
turned 2, I then had a maximum of 3-4 periods before becoming pregnant again
with the next child.  I am/was a perfectly healthy, although on the slim
side, adult woman who has breastfed and/or tandem breastfed each child to
age 6 when they self-weaned.  You bet I enjoyed those period free YEARS, I
was basically period free from June of 1995 when I became pregnant with my
first until April of 2005 after my youngest turned 2 a few months prior.
Now that my oeriods are back I am dealing with horrible cramps that are far
worse than labor ever was!!

I'll also second the thought that I don't understand why this woman feels
the need to be on the min-pill, why can she not monitor her body signals?
The mini-pill may be messing around with her cycles.  And while I am
thinking about it-there is a new birth control pill out, Seasonale, I
think...that is being promoted in womens magazines for the very reason that
one doesn't get a period BUT 3-4 times a year...so even the pharmaceutical
companies and OB/GYN's are promoting the fact that women can SAFELY do
without periods for longer stretches.  I wont go into the question of having
ones periods artificially suppressed versus naturally via
breastfeeding...thats for another post!


Robyn Roche-Paull
IBCLC, RLC, BS-MCH:LC

Tidewater Lactation Group, Inc.
www.tidewaterlactationgroup.com
"Your Complete Source for Breastfeeding Support"

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