Breast-feeding and fertility. Part I: Lactational amenorrhoea

A cross-sectional survey describing the current fertility performance and breast-feeding of 1134 urban mothers, who gave birth within the last 2 years was carried out. Mothers were recruited from MCH centers in Alexandria governorate. The results indicated that the mean time elapsed since birth before return of menstruation was (5.1 +/- 4.3) months for breast-feeding mothers and (2.5 +/- 2.3) months for non-breast feeding mothers. At four-month of postpartum period, 50% of the mothers were still amenorrhoeic and at six-month, 31% of the mothers were still amenorrhoeic. A total confirmed pregnancies was 8.5% and 3% of new pregnancies occurred during amenorrhoea and while women were breast-feeding. Use of contraceptives was practiced by 57% of mothers, with 65% of all users starting as early as the second month.