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Page: Use of Breastfeeding as Contraceptive
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As a contraceptive, the World Health Organization states that demand breastfeeding is more than 98% effective in the first six months postpartum. This effect is said to be responsible for the natural spacing of children seen in countries where contraception is not widely available, and is thought to be an evolutionary means of ensuring adequate care is provided to each newborn. The 98% effectiveness only applies if three criteria are met:
1. The mother has had no menstrual periods at all (amenorrhea);
2. The baby is exclusively breast-fed;
3. It is six months or less since birth.
If one or more of these conditions are broken, lactational amenorrhea is no longer a reliable form of birth control. This contraceptive method is highly effective as long as the three conditions above are fulfilled. Further, the WHO suggests that a woman who is still amenorrheic has a less than 5% chance of getting pregnant in the first year of her baby's life, as long as she is still breastfeeding on demand.
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