Ecological breastfeeding and child spacing
Jackson, R.L.
Clinical Pediatrics 27(8): 373-377
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0009-9228 PMID: 3042247 DOI: 10.1177/000992288802700804Document Number: 362975
Ecological breast feeding, i.e. feeding only human milk for approx. 6 months, suckling on demand day and night, gradually introducing small amounts of solid food from age approx. 6 months, continuing breast feeding as the primary source of nourishment until approx. 1 yr and avoiding the use of pacifiers, results in higher blood prolactin levels and lower gonadotropin levels than those found in non-nursing women. Even in industrialized countries, this can suppress fertility, for example demographic data up to 1930 show av. child spacing of 2 yr.