89758
document
Effects of age at introduction of complementary foods to breast-fed infants on duration of lactational amenorrhea in Honduran women . Lactational amenorrhea ( LA ) is associated with postpartum infertility and is known to be related to breast-feeding frequency and duration , but the exact role of complementary feeding of the infant has not been clearly defined . Data on LA were collected during and after a 2-mo intervention trial in which low-income Honduran women who had breast-fed fully for 4 mo were randomly assigned to one of three groups : continued full breast-feeding until 6 mo ( FBF , n = 50 ) , introduction of complementary foods at 4 mo with ad libitum breast-feeding from 4 to 6 mo ( SF , n = 47 ) , or introduction of complementary foods at 4 mo with maintenance of baseline breast-feeding frequency from 4 to 6 mo ( SF-M , n = 44 ) . Women were followed up until the infant was 12 mo of age , or later if menses had not occurred by then . All but six of the women continued to breast-feed for > or = 12 mo . With the exclusion of those whose menses returned before 18 wk postpartum ( which could not have been due to the intervention ) , the proportion of women who were amenorrheic at 6 mo was 64.5 % in the SF group , 80.0 % in the FBF group , and 85.7 % in the SF-M group ( chi-square test = 4.13 , P = 0.02 ; one-tailed test with the latter two groups combined ) . The total duration of LA did not differ significantly among groups . The most significant determinant of LA was time spent breast-feeding ( min/d ) , which was in turn negatively associated ( P = 0.06 ) with the infant 's energy intake from complementary foods in regression analyses . These results indicate that there is a significant effect of introducing foods at 4 mo on the likelihood of amenorrhea at 6 mo postpartum , but not thereafter , and that this effect is not seen in mothers who maintain breast-feeding frequency .
89759
Intervention_Pharmacological
complementary foods
89760
Intervention_Psychological
complementary feeding
89761
Intervention_Other
continued full breast-feeding until 6 mo
89762
Intervention_Other
introduction of complementary foods at 4 mo with ad libitum breast-feeding from 4 to 6 mo
89763
Intervention_Psychological
introduction of complementary foods at 4 mo with maintenance of baseline breast-feeding frequency from 4 to 6 mo
89764
Intervention_Pharmacological
breast-feeding
89765
Intervention_Pharmacological
complementary foods
89766
Outcome_Physical
Lactational amenorrhea
89767
Outcome_Mental
proportion of women who were amenorrheic
89768
Outcome_Other
total duration of LA
89769
Outcome_Mental
time spent breast-feeding ( min/d )
89770
Outcome_Physical
infant 's energy intake