Duration of lactation and return of menstruation in lactating women using hormonal contraception and IUDs
Prema, K.
Contraceptive Delivery Systems 3(1): 39-46
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0143-6112 PMID: 12264126 Document Number: 388985
Duration of lactation and lactational amenorrhoea were studied in 22 women using as a contraceptive depomedroxyprogesterone acetate as 150 mg injected every 3 months, 51 women using norethisterone enanthate as 20 mg injected monthly, 102 women taking oral contraceptives containing d-norgestrel and ethinyl oestradiol, and 68 women using copper intrauterine devices. Mean duration of lactation was not altered by any of the treatments compared with values in previous lactations or values in a control group. In women using the hormonal contraceptives, there was a marked decrease in the duration of lactational amenorrhoea, but there was no effect in women using the intrauterine devices. Thus, contraceptive steroids could nullify the effect of lactation on the hypothalamo-pituitary-ovarian axis without affecting lactation.