Fertility Awareness Methods: Distinctive Modern Contraceptives

Fertility awareness methods (FAMs), comprising the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM), the Standard Days Method (SDM), and the Two Day Method (TDM), are often left out of the basket of contraceptive options for women and couples because governments, donors, policy makers, and providers perceive them as inferior contraceptive methods. When FAMs are offered as an option, FAM users may be incorrectly lumped with traditional method users in reports and data analyses. Notably, a recent unpublished review of contraceptive method classification commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that LAM was deemed a ‘‘traditional’’ rather than a ‘‘modern’’ method in 2 of 5 major family planning publications or data-reporting sources. SDM was included as a modern method in only 3 of 6 publications, and the Two Day Method appeared in only 1 publication.