Nancy Young wrote:

(laugh) Really, there is a name for the syndrome of "I'm so dumb I
think I can't get pregnant while I'm breastfeeding" but I can't think
what it is. But that is a really funny saying, Sheryl. Parents.


Most popular falsehoods have a germ of truth in them. That's the case
with the one about not getting pregnant while breastfeeding.

The body won't ovulate until it has a sufficient store of calories.
That explains why anorexic women stop menstruating. Same for women
starving due to famine. Also sometimes true for highly athletic women
who are in such fantastic shape that they're pure muscle with virtually
no stored fat.

In places where calories are just sufficient but still scarce, it is
hard to store up those calories while breast feeding. It takes a lot of
food to feed a growing baby. In the third world, breast feeding can act
as a sort of birth control. In countries where food is plentiful, it
doesn't work well at all.

--Lia