My name is Crystal Meier and I am a nursing student at the University
of North Dakota. I have a friend who is four months pregnant and she
told me that one of her friends stated that she doesn’t need to use any
form of contraception if she is breast feeding because of Lactational
Amenorrhoea. I was curious to how often this method is taught and how
effective it is.
I found some information in the archives relating to frequency
of recommendation and “rules’” relating to Lactational Amenorrhoea
Method (LAM). Dr. Jack Newman (1997) stated in the archives that LAM
is often not taught because many physicians don’t know about it or
don’t believe in it.
With this information I decided to dig further and found some
articles. One of the articles discussed that a group of scientists
and policy-makers analyzed results of a study and came to the
conclusion that LAM is an effective contraceptive method (Finger,
1995). Berens (2001) stated that LAM is approximately 98% effective in
the first 6 postpartum months. “To use this method reliably, a women
should breast feed her infant exclusively during the first 6 months
after giving birth. She should not have resumed menses and should not
be providing the infant with supplemental food or drink. Feedings
should occur at least 8 times daily, with no more than 6 hours elapsing
between feedings” (Berens, 2001). Ramos, Kennedy, and Visness
(1996) conducted a study to evaluate the efficacy of LAM. Their study
found that of the 485 women in their data analysis less than 1% became
pregnant while using the LAM.
With the information that I found, I believe that LAM can be
effective if the “rules” are followed properly. My question, is this
taught frequently to mothers? If so, who is teaching it to mothers?
If not, why?
Crystal Meier, Student Nurse
University of North Dakota
Reference:
Berens, P. D. (2001). Interventions to Promote Breast-feeding.
Hospital Physician, 72, 38-45, 72.
Finger, W. (1995). Experts endorse family-planning method. The
Lancet, 346, 1700.
Ramos, R., Kennedy, K. I., & Visness, C.M. (1996).
Effectiveness of lactational amenorrhoea in prevention of pregnancy in
Manila, the Philippines: Non-comparative prospective trial. British
Medical Journal, 313, 909-912.
Newman, J. (1997) BF and birth control. Retrieved September
2001. Available in Lacnet archives at
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9711D&L=lactnet&P=R842
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