Effects of Lactation on Post-Partum Amenorrhea: Re-estimation Using INCAP Data

Pinto, Guido, and Alberto Palloni
Working paper no. 1996-17

Abstract

In this paper we re-estimate the effects of breastfeeding patterns on the timing of resumption of menses after controlling for maternal nutrition and maternal stressors variables. The analysis shows that simple hazard models, used on data from the INCAP longitudinal study, provide estimates of effects on timing of resumption of menstruation that are (a) comparable to others discussed in the recent literature and (b) generally consistent with hypotheses relating patterns of lactation, maternal nutritional status, and maternal stressors to processes that accelerate (decelerate) resumption of anovulatory cycles.