Fertility Awareness Method

I was discouraged by my doctor to use this method of birth control.

“It’s not effective.”

“It’s time consuming.”

“It’s risky.”

Fertility awareness method is a non-invasive approach to birth control and requires you to learn the signs and symptoms related to ovulation to either prevent or promote pregnancy. This is not recommended for women with PCOS, newly postpartum moms, breastfeeding moms who have not had a period, or perimenopausal women due to the irregularity of their periods. 

This method is based on the idea that

-One egg is released with each cycle

-Sperm lives for 5-6 days in the uterus

-The egg lives for no more than 24 hours

With this information, women can learn when they are most fertile and either avoid or partake in intercourse dependent upon their goals. With the symptothermal method, women track basal body temperature (BBT) and cervical mucus (CM) which change due to the hormonal changes we undergo throughout the month. 

In a study, the pregnancy rate was 0.6 per 100 women and per 13 cycles when there was no unprotected intercourse in the fertile time. In conclusion, the STM is a highly effective family planning method, provided the appropriate guidelines are consistently adhered to. (PMID:17314078)