Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Certification 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The lactational method of contraception, also known as the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM), primarily relies on breastfeeding to help prevent ovulation and reduce the likelihood of pregnancy. When a mother exclusively breastfeeds, especially in the early postpartum period, the hormone prolactin is released in higher quantities. Prolactin suppresses the production of gonadotropin-releasing hormone, which in turn reduces levels of luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone, leading to anovulation.

For the method to be effective, certain conditions must be met: the mother must be exclusively breastfeeding, the infant should be less than six months old, and the mother should not have resumed menstrual cycles. If these criteria are maintained, exclusive breastfeeding provides a natural form of contraception with a low failure rate during the first six months post-delivery.

Other methods mentioned are not applicable in this context. Hormonal medications introduce synthetic hormones to prevent ovulation, which is different from the natural hormonal regulation seen in breastfeeding. Barrier methods require physical devices or barriers to prevent sperm from reaching the egg, while surgical interventions involve irreversible procedures that do not relate to the natural lactational approach. Thus, the emphasis on exclusive breastfeeding makes it the primary reliance of this contrace