Contraceptive use and breast-feeding duration in rural Bangladesh.
The association between contraceptive use and breast-feeding duration was investigated in 2380 women in rural Bangladesh where women usually stop breast-feeding once pregnant. Life table analysis showed that women receiving regular injections of depo medroxy progesterone acetate (DMPA) and those using non-hormonal contraception breast-fed significantly longer than women using no contraception. In contrast, women using oral contraceptives (combination of 0.5 mg norgestrel and 0.05 mg ethinyl oestradiol) did not breast-feed longer than women using no contraception. It is suspected that prolongation of breast-feeding obtained by delaying the next pregnancy with this oral contraceptive was offset by the depressing effect of oestradiol on lactation. Thus, in communities where prolonged breast-feeding is associated with improved child survival, non-hormonal contraceptive methods, or injectable DMPA, should be preferred for lactating women to oestrogen-containing oral contraceptives.
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh.
A
A
Briend
V
V
Fauveau
J
J
Chakraborty
D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003267:Contraception / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015993:Life Tables; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012424:Rural Population; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors