Breast-feeding and contraception.

Emphasis on the advantages of breast-feeding to the infant and to the nursing mother has been accompanied by resurgent interest in this practice. Although breast-feeding has many desirable features, the needs of the lactating mother and her nursing infant may not always be complementary. Possible competition between the mother’s requirement for adequate contraception and the infant’s nutrition or maturation is an important example. For this reason, the relationship between breastfeeding and various forms of contraception has been reviewed.