Acceptable?

[avemaria40]

I heard that if a woman nurses her baby she can space her pregnancies. What does the Church say about this? I know that it isn't a sin to breastfeed(since it's a way for mother and baby to bond, as well as beneficial to the health of mother and child), but would it be to use it as birth control?

[Cam42]

To use any means as a contraceptive is sinful. However, if it is used to regulate births, then it is acceptable. The intent is where all of this lies....if the intent is to use it as a contraceptive, then it is unacceptable, just as using NFP as a contraceptive is unacceptable.

HOWEVER, if the reasoning is to use this as a way to regulate the body in a natural means, WITHOUT using it in a contraceptive manner, then it would be acceptable.

The Church, as far as I know, has not spoken specifically on this manner. If it has, I have not seen it.

[Theoketos]

It really comes down to intent like Cam said, that being said…

[b]Breast Feeding is great![/b]

1) It is healthier physically then any other option.

2) It is way cheaper then formula.

3) It is healthier emotionally then any other option.

4) Breastfeeding does indeed decrease the fertility of the Mother, and there is nothing wrong with that.

{It actually only is successful if something called ecological breast feeding (Feeding on demand) occurs. Otherwise it simply lowers the fertility rate and not cutting it off. Though this is not true in all cases}

It really is not healthy for a baby to be growing in the tummy and one suckling at the same time. So this is nature’s way of making sure this is not happening.

5) The baby’s mushy mud pie smells worse if they are on formula.

Moreover, Married Couples should enjoy the benefits of the natural infertility if there are any. (As a married man I can say that there are )

Here is a really good further resource on the Miracle of Breast Feeding.

[url="http://www.bygpub.com/natural/breastfeeding.htm"]http://www.bygpub.com/natural/breastfeeding.htm[/url]

From a Vatican Document to the UN

In the family which a woman establishes with her husband she enjoys the unique role and privilege of motherhood. In a special way it belongs to her to nurture the new life of the child from the moment of conception. The mother in particular enwraps the newborn child in love and security, and creates the environment for its growth and development. Society should not allow woman's maternal role to be demeaned, or count it as of little value in comparison with other possibilities. Greater consideration should be given to the social role of mothers, and support should be given to programmes which aim at decreasing maternal mortality, providing prenatal and perinatal care, meeting the nutritional needs of pregnant women and nursing mothers, and helping mothers themselves to provide preventive health care for their infants. [b]In this regard attention should be given to the positive benefits of breast- feeding for nourishment and disease prevention in infants, as well as for maternal bonding and birth-spacing.[/b]

[url="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_19031994_population-develop_en.html"]http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_pau...develop_en.html[/url]