Lactational amenorrhea as a method of family planning in Egypt.

Because of the potential importance of the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM) as a family-planning option in Egypt, we analyzed data from the 1995 Egyptian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) to study breastfeeding practices, use of contraception, reproductive history and sociodemographic factors for 5504 mothers with children under 3 years. According to the EDHS data, about 80% of Egyptian women breastfed for at least 6 months, and 40% breastfed for 15-18 months. Over half of breastfeeding mothers used no additional contraception.