TY - JOUR T1 - Fertility Awareness Methods: Distinctive Modern Contraceptives JF - Global Health: Science and Practice JO - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT SP - 13 LP - 15 DO - 10.9745/GHSP-D-15-00297 VL - 4 IS - 1 AU - Shawn Malarcher AU - Jeff Spieler AU - Madeleine Short Fabic AU - Sandra Jordan AU - Ellen H Starbird AU - Clifton Kenon Y1 - 2016/03/21 UR - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/4/1/13.abstract N2 - Fertility awareness methods—the Lactational Amenorrhea Method, the Standard Days Method, and the Two Day Method—are safe and effective, and they have important additional benefits that appeal to women and men. Including these modern contraceptives in the method mix expands contraceptive choice and helps women and men meet their reproductive intentions.This peer-reviewed commentary represents the technical position of the Office of Population and Reproductive Health of the United States Agency for International Development.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 Notably, a recent unpublished review of contraceptive method classification commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that LAM was deemed a “traditional” rather than a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.Fertility awareness methods are commonly misperceived as traditional methods and thus are often left out of family planning programming.“What gets measured gets done.” As governments and … ER -