Two important priorities at some stage in many women’s lives is getting pregnant or preventing pregnancy. Fertility awareness methods are a natural approach that addresses both these concerns. It involves tracking your menstrual cycle by logging your body’s signals to identify when ovulation occurs. Based on this you can prevent pregnancy by avoiding sex or using condoms while ovulating. Alternatively, you can have sex during ovulation for a higher chance of falling pregnant.
Everyone’s menstrual cycle – the number of days between each menstrual period - is different. Twenty-eight days is recognised as the average length of a menstrual cycle, but some women have shorter cycles while others can last more than 40 days.
When ovulation happens, your ovaries release an egg and if sperm comes into contact with it you will fall pregnant. There is a limited window of around seven days in your cycle when you can become pregnant. This is based both on the length of time that sperm survives inside of you (about six days) and the egg’s lifespan (approximately 24 hours).
There are three main FAM approaches, which can be used separately, or combined for greater accuracy. It takes time to track your cycle and master these methods before you can safely use them as contraception or to fall pregnant. Let’s delve into the details.
Taking your temperature
A woman’s body temperature is normally consistent, but it tends to drop slightly just before ovulation and increases after ovulation has occurred. By taking your basal body temperature daily for a few months, using a basal thermometer, you will begin to see a pattern of when ovulation occurs. A woman who has regular cycles can use this to determine when she’s ovulating.
Tracking cervical mucous
Women excrete different types of cervical mucous at different stages in their menstrual cycle. To track your cervical mucous, collect mucous from the opening of your vagina (you can use toilet paper when you go to the loo). Then you track the colour - clear, cloudy, yellow; the consistency - thick, stretchy, sticky; and the feel - dry, slippery. Ovulation normally occurs within a day or two of your mucous being clear, slippery and very stretchy.
Looking at the calendar
The calendar or standard days method only works for women whose menstrual cycle is regular. It involves noting the length of time between each menstrual period. Once that’s been done, a mathematical equation is used to determine when you are fertile and infertile.
Fertility awareness methods are also known as natural family planning and are good for women who prefer to steer clear of hormonal and other interventions for contraception and falling pregnant. Planned Parenthood found that FAM methods are 76 – 88% effective in achieving pregnancy, and the UK’s National Health Service states that if used correctly, FAM is 99% effective if used as contraception.
FAM methods are free and safe, and are a good way of getting to know your body better. But they aren’t foolproof and won’t work when you’re ill, have had very little sleep, or are using drugs and alcohol. You will also need to use condoms, or other barrier methods to prevent against contracting STDs. We recommend you consult a healthcare practitioner or qualified FAM teacher who can teach you how to use these methods properly.