Breastfeeding and popular aetiology in the Sahel

Two views about breastfeeding and the resumption of intercourse after a birth are found to prevail in Bamako and Bobo-Dioulasso, two cities of the Sahel region of Africa: that sexual relations may spoil the milk; and that a child should be weaned when the woman is pregnant again. Both beliefs provide a rationale to abstain, but the postpartum taboo has been greatly reduced in the area, and the second belief is the most important. ‘Bad milk’ serves as an explanation for many of the diarrhoeas and diseases of nutritional origin that affect infants and children. Traditional medical treatments of diarrhoea and protein calorie malnutrition are consistent with the popular aetiology. The acceptance of modern techniques of infant care in this area may well be predicated on the diffusion of an alternative model of disease causation

Postpartum sexual abstinence in tropical Africa

Postpartum taboos on sexual intercourse have been encountered in many countries throughout history. They were once advocated by medical authorities in Europe. The Greek and Roman doctors of antiquity were opposed to sexual relations during nursing and their opinions were quoted until the nineteenth century. Galen (1951:29) thought that the milk of the nursing mother would be spoiled because of the admixture of sperm in the mother\u27s blood. Soranos and Hippocrates believed that coitus and passionate behavior provided the stimulus that reactivated menstruation. Prior to the eighteenth century, there was no medical knowledge of the biological effect of bring on inence, and not the action of breastfeeding, was thought to delay the return of menses. This interpretation was still vivid in Europe in the eighteenth century

Attitudes of women and men towards contraception in Bobo-Dioulasso

The extent of knowledge and practice of contraception in African populations remains hard to evaluate and despite the great influx of data from the World Fertility Surveys, the impact of contraception on fertility levels is difficult to measure. The practice of abstinence for the purpose of spacing births is widespread in Africa. It was discussed in demographic terms already by Lorimer in 1954. More recently the Caldwells (1977, 1981), by carefully investigating the phenomenon among the Yoruba, contributed greatly to establish the place of sexual abstinence in the study of the determinants of African fertility. Lately, data from the World Fertility Survey have shown large variations in the length of post-partum abstinence between countries and among different ethnic groups. Anthropological research has thrown some light on the different functions attributed to post-partum sexual abstinence, and the different reasons for practicing it

The impact of women's social position on fertility in developing countries

This paper examines ideas about possible ways in which the extent of women's autonomy, women's economic dependency, and other aspects of their position vis-à-vis men influence fertility in Third World populations. Women's position or “status” seems likely to be related to the supply of children because of its links with age at marriage. Women's position may also affect the demand for children and the costs of fertility regulation, though some connections suggested in the literature are implausible. The paper ends with suggestions for future research.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45660/1/11206_2005_Article_BF01124382.pd

Allaitement, stérilité et contraception : les opinions jusqu'au XIXe siècle

SUMMARY The point is to know if the populations of the past were aware of the influence of breast-feeding upon fecundability and what the consequences of the opinion on this matter have been on the use of nurses. Here are presented the ideas on breast-feeding of some ancient famous physicians such as Galen, Hippicrates, Soranus of Ephesus, followed by those of modern doctors. Other authors give their opinion especially on sexual prohibition for nurses during the breast-feeding period. The relations between breast-feeding and temporary sterility are then studied from various points of view : physiological, moral, demographic. The link between the refusal of breast-feeding and contraception is examined at the end of the article.La question de l'allaitement maternel a donné matière à divers débats. Son influence sur la fécondabilité a fait l'objet de nombreuses études contemporaines, d'autant plus difficiles que les effets sur le temps mort sont loin d'être absolus et uniformes. Sur un plan général, la suppression de l'allaitement maternel accroît la fertilité ou fécondité physiologique; mais, comme elle coïncide, le plus souvent, avec des pratiques contraceptives, les effets de cette fertilité supplémentaire ne sont que rarement observés. Avant la Révolution, l'allaitement a donné lieu à des débats d'un autre ordre : Rousseau et d'autres condamnaient, par exemple, le recours à des nourrices. De nombreux préjugés circulaient à ce sujet. M. Etienne van de Walle de l'Université de Berkeley et Mme Francine van de Walle ont rassemblé un nombre important d'opinions et de textes et présentent ici le résultat de leurs recherches.SUMARIO Se trata aqui de saber si las poblaciones del posado conocían la influencia del amamantamiento sobre la fecundabilidad y cuales fueron las consecuencias de las ideas tocante a este asunto sobre el empleo de nodrizas. Se presentan las opiniones sobre el amamantamiento de los medicos del pasado tales como Galeno, Hipocrates, Soranos de Efeso y luego las de los medicos modernos. Otros autores han dado tamblen su opinion sobre el interdicto sexual para las nodrizas durante el periodo del amamantamiento. Las relaciones entre el amamantamiento y la esterilidad temporaria estan estudiadas desde los puntos de vista fisiológico, moral y demográfico. Рог fin se examina la relación entre el rehuso de amamantar y la contracepción.Van De Walle Etienne, Van De Walle Francine. Allaitement, stérilité et contraception : les opinions jusqu'au XIXe siècle. In: Population, 27ᵉ année, n°4-5, 1972. pp. 685-701

Individual life histories: neither slow nor fast, just diverse

The slow–fast continuum is a commonly used framework to describe variation in life-history strategies across species. Individual life histories have also been assumed to follow a similar pattern, especially in the pace-of-life syndrome literature. However, whether a slow–fast continuum commonly explains life-history variation among individuals within a population remains unclear. Here, we formally tested for the presence of a slow–fast continuum of life histories both within populations and across species using detailed long-term individual-based demographic data for 17 bird and mammal species with markedly different life histories. We estimated adult lifespan, age at first reproduction, annual breeding frequency, and annual fecundity, and identified the main axes of life-history variation using principal component analyses. Across species, we retrieved the slow–fast continuum as the main axis of life-history variation. However, within populations, the patterns of individual life-history variation did not align with a slow–fast continuum in any species. Thus, a continuum ranking individuals from slow to fast living is unlikely to shape individual differences in life histories within populations. Rather, individual life-history variation is likely idiosyncratic across species, potentially because of processes such as stochasticity, density dependence, and individual differences in resource acquisition that affect species differently and generate non-generalizable patterns across species

Individual life histories: neither slow nor fast, just diverse

The slow-fast continuum is a commonly used framework to describe variation in life-history strategies across species. Individual life histories have also been assumed to follow a similar pattern, especially in the pace-of-life syndrome literature. However, whether a slow-fast continuum commonly explains life-history variation among individuals within a population remains unclear. Here, we formally tested for the presence of a slow-fast continuum of life histories both within populations and across species using detailed long-term individual-based demographic data for 17 bird and mammal species with markedly different life histories. We estimated adult lifespan, age at first reproduction, annual breeding frequency, and annual fecundity, and identified the main axes of life-history variation using principal component analyses. Across species, we retrieved the slow-fast continuum as the main axis of life-history variation. However, within populations, the patterns of individual life-history variation did not align with a slow-fast continuum in any species. Thus, a continuum ranking individuals from slow to fast living is unlikely to shape individual differences in life histories within populations. Rather, individual life-history variation is likely idiosyncratic across species, potentially because of processes such as stochasticity, density dependence, and individual differences in resource acquisition that affect species differently and generate non-generalizable patterns across species