This if for Linda Rosetti's request for references to back up the claim than contraceptive pills for breastfeeding women should be the kind without estrogen: Try contacting Miriam Labbok, first of all. She could give you lots of references. What I have here is a report by her published by IMPACT, titled "Breastfeeding: Protecting a Natural Resource," 1988. On p. 8, in Box 2 titled "Breastfeeding and Family Planning" it says: "...blah...blah...blah...LAM...non-hormonal methods....No study as yet has shown any of the accepted contraceptive methods to be harmful to nursing infants, but a contraceptive containing estrogen (i.e., the Pill) may reduce breastmilk output and is not the preferred method. For this reason, the mini-Pill (progestin only) may be the best alternative for women who prefer the Pill. Other low-dose progesterone-only methods are equally appropriate. When breastfeeding is no longer providing a significant proportion of the child's food needs, concerns related to the possibility of a decrease in milk production from using the Pill are reduced." She then cites: Labbok, M.H., and Krasovec, K. eds. Guidelines for Breastfeeding in Child Survival and Family Planning Programs, Washington D.C.: Georgetown University, IISNFP, 1989. Kennedy, K. Consensus Statement on the Use of Breastfeeding as a Family Planning Method, Contraception, 35(5), 1989. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D. email: [log in to unmask] Anthropology Department phone: (409) 845-5256 Texas A&M University fax: (409) 845-4070 College Station, TX 77843-4352