I distinctly remember hearing about a study done in the Caribbean about bf
and child abuse (i.e. breastfed babies much much less likely to be abused)
that was published in a book about the bigger health study, therefore sort
of hidden from standard search engines.  Surely I heard about this on
LactNet?  Anyone with a better memory than mine?
>

Ione Sims writes:

 This and decreased sexual interest at least in the
>early postpartum were recurring themes that I heard about, especially
>last year when I was a student nurse-midwife.  And it is something that
>is worrisome and upsetting to some women.  I am curious what experiences
>others might have had along this line, and also, Kathy D., if you have
>any thoughts about this based on your knowledge of other cultures.


Well, since in Mali breast play is not part of sex, this issue doesn't come
up.  I know I certainly got seriously touched out in general with each baby
when they were little.  I didn't even like hugs from friends.  Certainly the
hormones of lactation suppress the sex drive, but this is adaptive from an
evolutionary perspective.  Reproduction is energetically extremely costly to
the woman (9 months of gestation, several years of nursing) and so she wants
to make sure each child has the best possible chance of survival, which
means not getting pregnant again too soon.  Lactational amenorrhea helps
with this, but so does a lower sex drive.  I have one article on this at my
office, but doubt I could find it if my life depended on it (ditto for the
one saying that if you don't feed solids at a particular age then the child
won't learn to eat properly -- which is quoted all the time with reference
to general child development, when the study was based on, and probably
therefore applicable only to, severely retarded children -- I'm still
looking for that one!).  Mothers are also usually exhausted when they have
young infants, whether breastfeeding or not, and so don't want to have sex.
In many cultures, there was a traditional post-partum sex taboo until the
child walked, talked, was weaned, or some other fairly long-term
developmental milestone.

Must run.

P.S.  The book about the link between bra wearing and breast cancer is
"Dressed to Kill" by Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer, published by
Avery Publishing.  I have not seen it yet.

Kathy D.