Birth Control For Better Natural Family Planning

Posted by Administrator on December 17, 2009

Sexual awareness, good knowledge of how the body works and plenty of involvement in the family life are necessary for a couple to successfully practice natural family planning. This kind of birth control is not easy, and both partners share the duty of getting information. The same methods used for the prevention of pregnancy can also be applied the other way round, when the couple is trying to conceive. Among the most common options here we can mention tests for ovulation, the monitoring of the cervical mucus, the basal temperature method, the standard days method, and even computer fertility tests and charts.

Natural family planning comes cheap and it is not difficult to understand and put into practice. Yet, it requires good communication with the life partner as well as willingness to accept the eventual limitations of the method. From the entire month, only ten days can be fertile, you just have to approximate which ones. Two choices are possible: not to have sex or use some other birth control method. Condoms will prevent both pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, while natural family planning only works for pregnancy prevention.

It is important for the woman to interpret her fertility daily, so that natural family planning be effective. Keep in mind that there are chances of getting pregnant even if you calculate your fertile and infertile days; consequently, consider alternative birth control if a pregnancy could be devastating for you. Therefore, you can take natural family planning less seriously if a pregnancy is acceptable at some point. The effectiveness of the method can only be appreciated depending on how accurate the woman is with her interpretation.

In the case of perfect usage, natural family planning is more effective than oral contraceptives. Yet, if we are to discuss not the perfect user but the average user, the efficiency rate drops somewhere between 75% and 88%. These data are closer to reality because few people who use natural family planning, actually follow all the rules correctly.

Who uses natural family planning? Such birth control options are very popular with people who do not use other contraceptive methods because of some cultural or religious beliefs. There are families that won’t mind conceiving and therefore take little care of birth control. In fact, for most couples who try natural family planning, a baby would not be a mistake or a problem.

The Advantage of Natural Birth Control

Posted by Administrator on December 15, 2009

Fertility awareness inevitably leads to natural birth control. There are many couples out there who for one reason or another cannot use hormonal contraceptives, and prefer to combine natural family planning with some non-traditional birth control method. The sympto-thermal method, the ovulation method, the standard days method or the rhythm method are just a few of the natural birth control options people rely on. Here is how each of these works.

The standard days method

The menstrual cycle is divided into three main periods according to the standard days method. Day number 1 is the first day of the period. There are very reduced chances of getting pregnant if you have sex between day 1 and day 8. Ovulation occurs between day 9 and day 18, and this is the most fertile interval. Use another birth control method or abstain. Natural birth control is once again possible between day 20 and day 32.

The ovulation method

A woman can recognize when ovulation is about to begin by the changes in the cervical mucus, yet, it is often hard to tell. Ovulation usually takes place between the 9th and the 18th day of the menstrual cycle, but variations are possible from woman to woman. If you prefer natural birth control, you can use the fertility tests available in drug stores to learn when you are most fertile, and use extra birth control during that period or abstain from sex.

The sympto-thermal method

The sympto-thermal method is both a natural birth control solution as well as an option for couples trying to conceive. It requires a careful monitoring of the changes in the body and it needs several months to reach a conclusion for the observation.

The big disadvantage of natural birth control is that it cannot offer any guarantees. There is a lot of unpredictable in the way a woman’s body behaves during the menstrual cycle, and in many cases unplanned pregnancies have appeared like this. If the menstrual pattern is regular, then the efficiency of natural birth control methods is very high, just like that of hormonal birth control. Talk to your physician about the options you have, and see what he/she advises for. Professional advice could simplify your choices a lot, and good information could save you from an unwanted pregnancy!