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Delia Smith, PhD; Cora E. Lewis, MD
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Laura Perkins, PhD
Dow Corning Corporation Midland, Mich

Gregory Burke, MD
Bowman Gray School of Medicine Winston-Salem, NC

Diane E. Bild, MD, MPH
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Bethesda, Md

JAMA. 1994;272(23):1820-1821.

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In Reply.

—The relationship between lactation and weight retention postpartum has been raised by Dr Donnelly and Dr Thacker as one factor moderating changes in weight and adiposity among women following pregnancy. The focus of our article was not to identify determinants of weight retention postpartum, but to examine whether parous and nulliparous women differed in long-term weight gain. Therefore, we did not address lactation as a predictor of weight loss.

We understand the interest in the relationship between lactation and postpartum maternal weight. In previous studies, breast-feeding has been associated with increased weight loss from 1 to 6 months postpartum,^1,2 but it was not related to the overall amount of weight lost by 1 to 2 years postpartum.^1-3 Furthermore, changes in fat distribution have been shown to be independent of breast-feeding.⁴ Thus, recent reviews have concluded that lactation does not play a major role in postpartum . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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