Natural family planning (or "fertility awareness") is a form of contraception in which a woman during her menstrual cycle tracks and records various fertility signs to find out when she is likely to get pregnant.
This page briefly describes how it works and what you need to do, but it is not a replacement for a specialist natural family planning teacher's guidance and training.
Natural family planning facts
It can be up to 99 percent successful if natural family planning is practiced correctly. This suggests that in 1 year, 1 in 100 women who use natural family planning will get pregnant.
It is less efficient if the instructions are not followed carefully.
There are no physical side effects and when you get pregnant, you can use that to prepare.
Your fertility signs, such as your temperature and the fluids flowing from your cervix, must be registered regularly.
Disease, stress, and travel can impact your fertility signals.
You will need to use condoms, such as a condom, diaphragm, or cap if you want to have sex during a period when you could get pregnant.
You'll help to protect yourself from sexually transmitted diseases by using condoms and natural family planning (STD's).
How planning for natural families works
During your menstrual cycle, natural family planning requires recognizing the signs and symptoms of fertility so that you can prepare or stop pregnancy.
For natural family planning, there are 3 different fertility signs you can track and record. They are:
Your menstrual cycle duration
Regular measurements of the temperature of the body
Modifications of the cervical secretions (cervical mucus)
Ovulation and the menstrual cycle
From the first day of your period until the day before the next period begins, your menstrual cycle lasts. This is an average of 28 days, but longer or shorter periods are common, from 21 to 40 days.
An egg is released from one of your ovaries during your cycle (ovulation) and moves down the Fallopian tube. Usually, it will be published 10-16 days before your next period. A second egg, within 24 hours of the first egg, is sometimes released.
The egg only lives for a maximum of 24 hours after ovulation, and for conception to occur, the sperm must enter the egg during that time.
Up to 2 days after you ovulate, you can get pregnant. But if you've had sex 7 days before ovulation, you might get pregnant because sperm can live up to seven days inside the woman's body and fertilize the egg when it's published.
You can determine when you're most likely to be fertile by measuring your cycle (able to conceive). But you need to prepare for doubt on precisely when you ovulate.
The length of a menstrual cycle will differ over time, so calculate your menstrual cycle for 12 months to make sure your calculations are as accurate as possible.
The method for temperature
Since there is a slight increase in body temperature after ovulation, the temperature procedure is used.
For natural family planning, you would need to use either a digital thermometer or a thermometer specifically made. Ear or forehead thermometers for this are not sufficiently precise.
The temperature approach includes measuring your temperature every morning before you get out of bed. Until dining, drinking, and smoking, this should be done and, preferably, every morning at the same time.
When the temperature is higher than any of the previous 6 days, watch out for 3 days in a row. The temperature rise is very small, typically about 02C (0.4F). At this time, you may be no longer fertile.
Method of Cervical Secretion Control
At various points in your menstrual cycle, there is a difference in the volume and texture of your cervical secretions (cervical mucus).
By inserting your middle finger softly into your vagina and moving it up to around your middle knuckle, you can confirm this. You'll probably notice your vagina is dry for the first couple of days after your period and you can't feel any mucus.
As your hormone levels increase to prepare your body for ovulation, you'll probably find that you start to develop mucus that is wet, sticky, white, and creamy. That is the beginning of your menstrual cycle's fertile era.
The mucus can become wetter, smoother, and slick, a little like raw egg white, shortly before ovulation. This is when you're at the most fertile.
The mucus should then be thicker and sticky again soon, and you should no longer be fertile after 3 days.
How effective is natural family planning?
This strategy can be up to 99 percent successful if natural family planning guidelines are closely followed. This suggests that 1 out of 100 women who correctly use natural family planning would get pregnant.
But if the strategies of natural family planning are not properly followed, more women would get pregnant. Using natural family planning effectively involves dedication and practice.
Who can use natural planning for families?
Natural family planning can be used by most women. However, fertility signs may be influenced by such circumstances and you might want to suggest a different approach if:
If you were pregnant, there might be a health risk to the infant.
you're seeing irregular cycles.
Your fertility symptoms, such as a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or pelvic. inflammatory disease, are affected by a short or long-term illness.
You are taking a drug that interferes with cervical mucus development (ask your GP or a pharmacist if you are unsure).
You started taking hormonal contraception recently.
You have had a miscarriage or an abortion recently.
you've just given birth and are breastfeeding.
You fly constantly through various time zones.
You have a vaginal infection, such as thrush or STI, or you are at elevated risk for STII.
You can't take your temperature in the recommended manner.
You are a heavy drinker, you are.
Advantages:
It causes no side effects.
To all religions and cultures, natural family planning is appropriate.
As long as they're adequately educated by a fertility awareness trainer, most women will use natural family planning.
There should be no more need for guidance from health practitioners once you've mastered the techniques.
It is possible to use natural family planning either to prevent pregnancy or to become pregnant.
It doesn't include actual goods or chemicals.
It will help you distinguish vaginal secretions that are regular and irregular, so you can be conscious of potential infections.
In the end, it includes your partner, which can help increase feelings of closeness and confidence.
Disadvantages:
Natural family planning, like chlamydia or HIV, does not defend against STIs.
During the time you may get pregnant, which some couples might find difficult, you may need to avoid intercourse, or use contraceptives such as condoms.
Depending on your period, if you intend to abstain, there can often be up to 16 days during which you can not have sex.
If the procedures are not correctly implemented, it can be much less successful than other types of contraception.
Without continuous effort and practice, it won't work.
Before you become secure in recognizing your fertile period, it may take many menstrual cycles.
You'll have to use barrier contraception during this period, such as condoms.
You will need to keep your fertility signs on a regular record.
For every woman, it's not acceptable.
Your fertility signs can be disturbed by stress, sickness, travel, lifestyle, and hormone treatments.
Before depending on natural family planning again, if you use the emergency contraceptive pill, you will need to wait for 2 full cycles.
Lactation Amenorrhea Method (LAM)
If you breastfeed exclusively (give your baby breast milk only) and your baby is under 6 months old, you're unlikely to have any periods. Because of this, breastfeeding is used by some women as a type of natural contraception. This is referred to as the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM)
Less than 2 in 100 women who use LAM can get pregnant in the first 6 months when used correctly and consistently. Take caution, however, to use the tool correctly. Do not feed other foods to your baby because this may minimize your lactation.
LAM becomes untrustworthy when:
Breastmilk replacements for other foods or liquids
Your baby is six months old.
You have a timeline
It is possible to get pregnant after getting a baby until your cycles begin again. This is because about 2 weeks before your period, you ovulate.
