Fertility awareness methods, or FAM, enable you to identify those days in your menstrual cycle on which you are most likely to be fertile. While thousands of women use this method in order to fall pregnant, it is also possible to use this method to prevent a pregnancy as well. When you avoid having intercourse during those fertile days, fertility awareness methods are referred to as periodic abstinence, or natural family planning. This involves making notes of your menstrual cycle in order to identify your fertile period. These include the calendar rhythm method and the standard days method, and are know as calendar-based methods.
 
There are some fertility awareness methods where you are required to observe and make a note of one or more physical changes that are associated with fertility. These include fluctuations in your BBT or basal body temperature as well as changes in the secretions from your cervix. These are known as symptom-based methods.
 
The difficulty with fertility awareness methods is that for postpartum women to determine their BBT, they have to measure their temperature at roughly the same time each morning after no less than three hours of uninterrupted sleep and before they get up. This could prove to be quite difficult when caring for a small baby. Also, it is not possible to use calendar-based methods until you resume menstruating and you have had at least three regular periods. Fertility awareness methods will not protect you against STIs including HIV, gonorrhea and chlamydia.
 
The effectiveness of this method ranges from 91% for women who use the calendar method, and 99% for those using the BBT method as well as abstaining from sex during their fertile days. This is only so in cases where the method is used correctly and consistently. Therefore, nine out of one hundred women who use the calendar rhythm method perfectly for a year will become pregnant, and one out of one hundred women using the BBT method perfectly for one year will become pregnant. When used precisely, the symptom-based method has been found to be more effective than the calendar methods.
 
As they are typically used though, it is found that some of the methods are only 75% effective in the first year of use. The standard days method and the two-day method, the two newer methods, are close to 88% effective, probably because they are easier to follow.
 
It depends on three factors as to how effective a particular method will be for you. These factors include how accurate the method is at identifying your fertile time, what degree of understanding you have of the method and are able to use it to identify your fertile days, and how consistently you use the barrier method or abstain from sex on the days that the method has identified as fertile.
Fertility awareness methods are complicated and some couples take classes or see a specially trained counsellor to ensure that they fully understand how the methods work. So, in order to be able to use these methods properly, you need to be highly motivated.
Once you have given birth, you can start using the calendar-based methods after you have had three regular menstrual cycles. Symptom-based methods can be used once normal vaginal secretions have returned. However, it might be somewhat tricky for these methods to be used until your usual patterns have returned and you might also need special counselling to ensure the correct use of them for the first few months.
 
Certain things need to be considered if you want to use these methods while you are breastfeeding. You may not have your periods for some time after you give birth if you are breastfeeding exclusively. It can take anything from a few months to a year for you to start ovulating again depending on how often you are nursing your baby. You must also understand that ovulating starts about two weeks before menstruation, so you will be fertile before you get your first period after giving birth.
 
If you gave birth less than six months ago, have been exclusively breastfeeding your baby, and have not started menstruating, then you are a perfect candidate for the LAM (lactational amenorrhea method) and the chances of you preventing pregnancy using this method are about 98%. Once you are no longer meeting the criteria for using the LAM method, using other fertility awareness methods can be quite tricky if you are still breastfeeding. Calendar-based methods cannot be relied upon until you have had three regular periods and because your vaginal secretions will be different to before, the symptom-based methods can also be somewhat challenging. It is therefore better to get special instructions under these circumstances.
 
Drugs can also hamper the effectiveness of fertility awareness methods. Some drugs delay ovulation, raise body temperature, or affect your cervical secretions so you might need special counselling if you want to use these methods while you are taking these drugs. Alternatively, you could simply change to a different contraceptive method for the time being.
 
There are other situations that can make it harder to use FAM. For instance, you will need to delay or stop using these methods if you start having irregular vaginal bleeding. You will need to get special counselling if you want to use FAM before your regular period returns after experiencing a miscarriage or having an abortion. Another reason for special counselling is when your periods become irregular as you near the age of menopause.
 
Cervical mucous methods cannot be used if you have abnormal vaginal discharge or an infection such as yeast infection or STI, and your BBT cannot be relied on if your sleep patterns are erratic or any other condition that could affect your body temperature.
 
If you happen to have intercourse on a potentially fertile day, then you will need to use emergency contraception to avoid getting pregnant. If you are 17 years and older, these are obtainable without prescription. It is always a good idea to have these handy before you start using FAM, so you have them should you need them.

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