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Conceiving After Contraception Part Two

Birth Control and Your Fertility

Part Two

"I never believed it would work," says Laurie*. "It sounded too easy, but it's actually a complex – though not complicated – process, and we were able to space our four children almost exactly two and a half years apart, just as we wanted." Laurie also found that using FAM had some indirect benefits. "Sean and I were equally responsible for our birth control method, and we are much more comfortable talking about our sexuality than many other couples," she says. 

There is one form of birth control that is only available to nursing mothers: lactational amenorrhea method (LAM). In plain English, LAM means that lactation, or the making of milk, results in the absence of menstruation – Mother Nature's way of preventing a nursing mom from getting pregnant.

To improve your chances of avoiding pregnancy with LAM, you must meet three criteria: you must be exclusively breastfeeding (including night feedings) and offering no supplements, you must not have had a period since giving birth and you must be fewer than 6 months postpartum.

"Exclusively breastfeeding" means feeding on demand – no less than every four hours during the day and every six hours at night. If your baby has slept through the night since she was 2 weeks old, don't count on LAM to prevent you from getting pregnant. If you were sick for several days and gave Baby formula to llow yourself extra time to rest between feedings, find another method of birth control.

Want to see more?

• Conceiving After Contraception Part One: Birth Control and Your Fertility
• Conception and the Caffeine Connection: Is Your Daily Habit Hurting Your Chances of Conceiving?
• Which Birth Control Method? Changing Your Birth Control After Pregnancy
• Too Toxic to Conceive: Is Your Lifestyle to Blame?
• Join the discussion on our Family.com community!

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