| Lactational amenorrhea method | |
|---|---|
 an infant breastfeeding |
|
| Background | |
| B.C. type | Behavioral |
| First use | Ancient; Ecological method 1971 |
| Failure rates (first six months) | |
| Perfect use | 0.5% |
| Typical use | 2% |
| Usage | |
| Duration effect | up to 6 months (longer in some cases, with greater failure rate) |
| Reversibility | yes |
| User reminders | Adherence to protocols |
| Clinic review | None |
| Advantages and disadvantages | |
| STD protection | No |
| Weight | Loss |
| Benefits | No external drugs or clinic visits required |
The lactational amenorrhea method (LAM) is a method of avoiding pregnancies which is based on the natural postpartum infertility that occurs when a woman is amenorrheic and fully breastfeeding. If not combined with chemicals or devices, LAM may be considered natural family planning.
Contents |
Breastfeeding infertility
For women who meet the criteria (listed below), LAM is 98% - 99.5% effective during the first six months postpartum.[1]
- Breastfeeding must be the infant’s only (or almost only) source of nutrition. Feeding formula, pumping instead of nursing[2], and feeding solids all reduce the effectiveness of LAM.
- The infant must breastfeed at least every four hours during the day and at least every six hours at night.
- The infant must be less than six months old.
- The mother must not have had a period after 56 days post-partum (when determining fertility, bleeding prior to 56 days post-partum can be ignored).
Ecological breastfeeding
Ecological breastfeeding is a stricter form of LAM developed by Sheila Kippley, one of the founders of the Couple to Couple League. Studies have shown it has a 1% failure rate in the first six months postpartum, and a 6% failure rate before the woman’s first postpartum menstruation.[3][4] The Seven Standards of ecological breastfeeding are slightly different from the LAM criteria:
- Breastfeeding must be the infant’s only source of nutrition – no formula, no pumping, and (if the infant is less than six months old) no solids or water at all.
- The infant must be pacified at the breast, not with pacifiers or bottles or by placing a finger in the mouth.
- The infant must be breastfed frequently. The standards for LAM are a bare minimum; greater frequency is better. Sucking should include non-nutritive sucking when the infant cues the mother, not just breastfeeding as a means of nutrition. Scheduling of feedings is incompatible with LAM.
- Mothers must practice safe co-sleeping as it is the proximity of the child to the mother that increases prolactin.
- Mothers must not be separated from their infants. This includes substitutes for mother such as babysitters and even strollers or anything else that comes between mother and physical contact with her child. Babywearing (using cloth carriers) means tactile stimulation between mother and child and increases access to the breast. Any separation from the mother will decrease the efficacy of ecological breast feeding.
- Mothers must take daily naps with their infants.
- A mother must not have had a period after 56 days post-partum (bleeding prior to 56 days post-partum can be ignored).
Return of fertility
Return of menstruation following childbirth varies widely among individuals. The closer a woman's behavior is to the Seven Standards of ecological breastfeeding, the later (on average) her cycles will return. Average return of menses for women following all seven criteria is 14 months after childbirth, with some reports being as soon as 2 months while others are as late as 42 months.[citation needed] Couples who desire spacing of 18 to 30 months between children can often achieve this through breastfeeding alone.
Although the first post-partum cycle is sometimes anovulatory (reducing the likelihood of becoming pregnant again before having a post-partum period), subsequent cycles are almost always ovulatory and therefore must be considered fertile. However, some women find that breastfeeding interferes with fertility even after ovulation has resumed. Luteal phases being too short to sustain pregnancy is a common example.
Further reading
- Kippley, Sheila. Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing: How Ecological Breastfeeding Spaces Babies. Cincinnati: Couple to Couple League International, 1999. ISBN 0-926412-20-5
- The Use of Contraception During Lactation - A Fact Sheet - Alberta Medical Association.
Footnotes
- ^ "Comparison of Effectiveness". Planned Parenthood. April 2005. http://www.plannedparenthood.org/birth-control-pregnancy/birth-control/effectiveness.htm. Retrieved 2006-08-12., which cites:
:Hatcher, RA; Trussel J, Stewart F, et al. (2000). Contraceptive Technology (18th ed.). New York: Ardent Media. ISBN 0-9664902-6-6. - ^ ReproLine The Reading Room. Lactational Amenorrhea Method, which cites:
:Zinaman M, Hughes V, Queenan J, Labbok M, Albertson B (1992). "Acute prolactin and oxytocin responses and milk yield to infant suckling and artificial methods of expression in lactating women.". Pediatrics 89 (3): 437–40. PMID 1741218. - ^ Sheila K. and John F. Kippley (November-December 1972). "The relation between breastfeeding and amenorrhea". Journal of obstetric, gynecologic, and neonatal nursing 1 (4): 15–21. PMID 4485271.
- ^ Sheila Kippley (November-December 1986 and January-February 1987). "Breastfeeding survey results similar to 1971 study". The CCL News 13 (3): 10. http://ccli.org/nfp/ebf/spacebabies.php. and 13(4): 5.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
