Breast feeding and post-partum amenorrhea in Serere women in Senegal

The duration of post-partum amenorrhea and of breast-feeding was studied in a population of Serere people in Senegal, using an actuarial method. The use of the Cox method enabled us to show a positive correlation between these two factors and a negative correlation between the duration of amenorrhea, the survival of the breast-fed child, and the weaned status of the child. The characteristics of the diet of these sedentary women were similar to those found for amenorrheic American marathon runners. Given the results of other studies of African populations, these observations are discussed in the light of recent models of gonadotrophic involvement in the possible regulatory mechanisms in women who breast-feed for long periods whilst having an energy balance which is close to zero or even negative.