title: Is lactation nature's contraceptive? Data from Samoa.
abstract: Data from a Samoan menstruation study suggest that lactation, even intensive on-demand lactation, does not inhibit menstruation or conception. This paper explores the applied and theoretical implications of continuing to accept lactation as a universally effective fertility control mechanism. Such thinking can have disastrous implications for family planning programs, and it keeps us from challenging long-held assumptions about lactation's role in population growth in early populations.
authors.affiliation: Pacific Basin Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Manoa, Honolulu.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
mesh_terms: D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D003906:Developing Countries; D005193:Family Planning Services; D005260:Female; D006254:Hawaii; D006801:Humans; D014905:Independent State of Samoa; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007774:Lactation / Q000502:physiology*; D010060:Ovulation / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011388:Prolactin / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D011388:Prolactin