Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T08:32:17.134Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The effect of initiation of child supplementation on resumption of post-partum menstruation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Robert E. Jones
Affiliation:
Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA

Summary

The effects of initiation of solid and liquid supplementation on resumption of post-partum menstruation are examined, 0using data from a 2-year prospective study of birth interval dynamics from central Java, Indonesia. The sample analysed consisted of 444 women who experienced resumption of menses while breast-feeding, women who were breast-feeding and amenorrhoeic at the end of the study, or women who resumed menstruation or were censored after infant mortality and weaning which preceded the resumption of menses. Multivariate hazard model analysis was used to assess the significance of supplementation, various breast-feeding covariates, and age and parity of the dependent variable. Because the timing of supplementation varies, the supplementation variables were introduced into the analysis as time-varying covariates. For the mothers in the sample, solid and liquid supplementation was initiated at medians of 2·1 and 8·0 months respectively. The former had a significant effect on resumption of menses, while the latter was only marginally significant. Earlier supplementation meant shorter durations of amenorrhoea for the majority of women. However, the effect was not consistent across all categories of women. For the small group of mothers who were low intensity breast-feeders (≤6 minutes per nursing episode) or as low frequency day-time breast-feeders (≤6 nursing episodes per day-time), earlier supplementation had no additional effect on their rate of resumption of menses post-partum.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1990, Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bracher, M. D. & Santow, G. (1982) Breast-feeding in central Java. Popul. Stud. 36, 413.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, B. B., Harrisson, P. & Smith, M. A. (1985) A study of returning fertility after childbirth and during lactation by measurement of urinary oestrogen and pregnanediol excretion and cervical mucus production. J biosoc. Sci. Suppl. 9, 5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, L. C., Ahmed, S., Gesche, M. & Mosley, W. H. (1974) A prospective study of birth interval dynamics in rural Bangladesh. Popul. Stud. 28, 277.Google ScholarPubMed
Cox, D. R. (1972) Regression models and life tables (with discussion). J. Roy. statist. Soc. (Series B), 34, 184.Google Scholar
Delgado, H. L., Martorell, R. & Klein, R. E. (1982) Nutrition, lactation, and birth interval components in rural Guatemala. Am. J. din. Nutr. 35, 1468.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dixon, W. J. (1985) BMDP Statistical Software. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.Google Scholar
Elias, M. F., Teas, J., Johnston, J. & Bora, C. (1986) Nursing practices and lactation amenorrhoea. J. biosoc. Sci. 18, 1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferin, M., Van Vugt, D. & Wardlaw, S. (1984) The hypothalamic control of the menstrual cycle and the role of endogenous opioid peptides. Rec. progr. harm. Res. 40, 441.Google ScholarPubMed
Glasier, A., Mcneilly, A. S. & Baird, D. T. (1986) Induction of ovarian activity by pulsatile infusion of LHRH in women with lactational amenorrhea. Clin. Endocr. 24, 243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glasier, A., Mcneilly, A. S. & Howie, P. W. (1984) Pulsatile secretion of LH in relation to the resumption of ovarian activity post-partum. Clin. Endocr. 20, 415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gross, B. A. & Eastman, C. J. (1985) Prolactin and the return of ovulation in breast-feeding women. J. biosoc. Sci. Suppl. 9, 25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Habicht, J-P., Davanzo, J., Butz, W. P. & Meyers, L. (1985) The contraceptive role of breastfeeding. Popul. Stud. 39, 213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobcraft, J. (1985) Comments from a demographer. In: Maternal Nutrition and Lactational Infertility. Edited by Dobbing, J.. Raven Press, New York.Google Scholar
Hoem, J. (1969) Purged and partial Markov chains. Skandinavisk Aktuarietedskrift, 52, 147.Google Scholar
Howie, P. W. & Mcneilly, A. S. (1982) Effect of breast-feeding patterns on human birth intervals. J. Reprod. Fert. 65, 545.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howie, P. W., Mcneilly, A. S., Houston, M. J., Cook, A. & Boyle, H. (1981) Effect of supplementary food on suckling patterns and ovarian activity during lactation. Br. med. J. 283, 757.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howie, P. W., Mcneilly, A. S., Houston, M. J., Cook, A. & Boyle, H. (1982a) Fertility after childbirth: infant feeding patterns, basal PRL levels and post-partum ovulation. Clin. Endocr. 17, 315.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howie, P. W., Mcneilly, A. S., Houston, M. J., Cook, A. & Boyle, H. (1982b) Fertility after childbirth: post-partum ovulation and menstruation in bottle and breast-feeding mothers. Clin. Endocr. 17, 323.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huffman, S. L., Ford, K., Allen, H. A. & Streble, P. (1987) Nutrition and fertility in Bangladesh: breastfeeding and post-partum amenorrhoea. Popul. Stud. 41, 447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, V. J. (1984) Breastfeeding and Fertility in Yogyakarta. Monograph Series, No. 5. Population Studies Center, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.Google Scholar
Hull, V. J. (1985) Breastfeeding, birth spacing, and social change in rural Java. In: Breastfeeding, Child Health and Child Spacing. Edited by Hull, V. J. & Simpson, M.. Croom Helm, London.Google Scholar
Jain, A. K., Hsu, T. C., Freedman, R. & Chang, M. C. (1970) Demographic aspects of lactation and postpartum amenorrhea. Demography, 6, 255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jain, A. K. & Sun, T. H. (1972) Interrelationships between socio-demographic factors, lactation and postpartum amenorrhea. Demography India, 1, 78.Google Scholar
Jones, R. E. (1988a) A hazards model analysis of breastfeeding variables and maternal age on return to menses postpartum in rural Indonesian women. Hum. Biol. 60, 853.Google ScholarPubMed
Jones, R. E. (1988b) A biobehavioral model for breastfeeding effects on return to menses postpartum in Javanese women. Soc. Biol. 35, 307.Google ScholarPubMed
Jones, R. E. (1989) Breast-feeding and post-partum amenorrhoea in Indonesia. J. biosoc. Sci. 21,83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kalbfleisch, J. B. & Prentice, R. L. (1980) The Statistical Analysis of Failure Time Data. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Kaplan, E. L. & Meier, P. (1958) Nonparametric estimation from incomplete observations. J Am. statist. Ass. 53, 457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knobil, E. (1980) The neuroendocrine control of the menstrual cycle. Rec. progr. harm. Res. 36, 53.Google ScholarPubMed
Mcneilly, A. S., Howie, P. W. & Houston, M. J. (1980) Relation of feeding patterns, prolactin, and resumption of ovulation postpartum. In: Research Frontiers in Fertility Regulation. Edited by Zatuchni, G. I., Labook, M. & Sciarra, J. J.. Harper & Row, New York.Google Scholar
Mcneilly, A. S., Glasier, A. & Howie, P. W. (1985) Endocrine control of lactational infertility. In: Maternal Nutrition and Lactational Infertility. Edited by Dobbing, J.. Raven Press, New York.Google Scholar
Ngaglik Study Team (1978) Birth Interval Dynamics in Village Java: The Methodology of the Ngaglik Study. Methodology Series, No. 4. Population Studies Center, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.Google Scholar
Potter, R., New, M., Wyon, L. & Gordon, J. (1965) Application of field studies to research on the physiology of human reproduction. J. chron. Dis. 18, 1125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prema, K. & Ravindranath, K. (1982) The effect of breastfeeding supplements on the return of fertility. Stud.fam. Plan. 13, 293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rivera, R., Ortiz, E., Barrera, M., Kennedy, K. & Bhiwandiwala, P. (1985) Preliminary observations on the return of ovarian function among breast-feeding and post-partum non-breast-feeding women in a rural area of Mexico. J. biosoc. Sci. Suppl. 9, 127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Santow, G. (1987) Reassessing the contraceptive effect of breastfeeding. Popul. Stud. 41, 147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Santow, G. & Bracher, M. S. (1984) Child death and time to the next birth in central Java. Popul. Stud. 38, 241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trussell, J. & Hammerslough, C. (1983) A hazards-model analysis of the covariates of infant and child mortality in Sri Lanka. Demography, 20, 1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tuma, N. B. & Hannan, M. T. (1984) Social Dynamics: Models and Methods. Academic Press, Orlando, Florida.Google Scholar
Vis, H. L. (1985) Commentary. In: Maternal Nutrition and Lactational Infertility. Edited by Dobbing, J.. Raven Press, New York.Google Scholar