The purpose of the “LAM and the Transition Barrier Analysis” was to gain further insight and explore the facilitators of and the barriers to the transition from the Lactational Amenorrhea Method to other modern family planning methods. The analysis was conducted within an operations research study, entitled the Healthy Fertility Study (HFS), which examined the integration of postpartum family planning services. The HFS is a collaboration between ACCESS-FP, the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Shimantik, a local Bangladeshi nongovernmental organization.

This analysis shows that perception around return to fertility, concerns about side effects, and perceived lack of social support from husbands and mothers-in-law for using a method are key barriers in users’ timely transition from LAM to another modern FP method.