With FAM, you learn to identify your fertile and infertile phases using several clinical indicators (basal body temperature and cervical mucus are the most commonly used). Once you know when your fertile phase is, you can simply abstain from intercourse during that time to prevent pregnancy. Used correctly, FAM can be up to 98 percent effective.

"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."

Fertility with LAM – Natural Birth Control
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 less than 6 months postpartum.

"Exclusively breastfeeding" means feeding on demand – no less than every 4 hours during the day and every 6 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 allow yourself extra time to rest between feedings, find another method of birth control.

If all these conditions are met, LAM is said to be more than 98 percent effective, according to Alicia Dermer, MD, IBCLC. It's probably the easiest birth control method around because:

• There's nothing you have to remember to do (other than nurse your baby).
• There are no extra supplies required (the nursing bra is optional).
• It has no side effects (except a happy and content baby and husband).

The most important thing to remember about LAM is that it is not 100 percent effective even if you meet all three of the requirements, and it certainly won't work if you are supplementing at all. Also, although most women will have a "warning period" – a period without having ovulated – not everyone does. So your protection may be gone before you know it. Heed the words of Cheryl, who conceived her second child while nursing her first. "Breastfeeding reduces the likelihood of becoming pregnant, but does not prevent it, so get out there and get those pills! Don't walk, run!"

If you're hoping to space your children close together, LAM is a great method. It allows your body to recuperate from the physical stress of childhood, relaxes you emotionally for the task of mothering, and does not have any negative effect on your fertility after the first 6 months.