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Fertility awareness: Natural family planning

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Natural family planning (or "fertility awareness") is a method of contraception where a woman monitors and records different fertility signals during her menstrual cycle to work out when she's likely to get pregnant.


Fact about natural family planning

  • If natural family planning is followed correctly, it can be up to 99% effective. This means that 1 woman in 100 who use natural family planning will get pregnant in 1 year.
  • It is less effective if the instructions aren't carefully followed.
  • There are no physical side effects, and you can use it to plan when you get pregnant.
  • You have to keep a daily record of your fertility signals, such as your temperature and the fluids coming from your cervix – it takes 3 to 6 menstrual (monthly) cycles to learn the method.
  • Your fertility signals can be affected by illness, stress and travel.
  • If you want to have sex during the time when you might get pregnant, you'll need to use contraception, such as a condom, diaphragm or cap.
  • By using condoms as well as natural family planning, you'll help to protect yourself against sexually transmitted infections (STIs).


How It Works

Usually, the ovaries release an egg at about the same time each month. That’s called ovulation. The egg moves through the fallopian tubes toward the uterus. An unfertilized egg can live up to 24 hours.


Fertility happens for about 6 days each month: 5 before ovulation and the day of ovulation. Natural family planning uses different methods to pinpoint those fertility days.


There are 3 different fertility signals you can monitor and record for natural family planning. These are:


  1. the length of your menstrual cycle
  2. daily readings of your body temperature
  3. changes to your cervical secretions (cervical mucus)


It's best to record these measures together to give you a more accurate picture of when you're likely to be most fertile.


You can use fertility charts to record and track your measurements over the course of each menstrual cycle. 


Procedures (Natural Family Planning)


  1. Boil a cup of water.
  2. Wash your ginger and grate it.
  3. Add grated ginger to the water.
  4. Boil for a couple of minutes.
  5. Let the tea settle for 5 minutes and then strain it.
  6. Take immediately after sex. You can take daily too because of it’s other health benefits. 


NOTE:  If you are a TTC mom or breastfeeding mom, do not take.


Benefits

Natural family planning is free. There are no side effects. You can stop anytime, and it won't have an impact on your body. It also meets most religious guidelines.


Also Read: The health Benefits of Avocado Pear - How to make avocado pear oil


Apps can help you track your fertility, which can make things easier.


Once you've learned a method, you don't have to keep going to a doctor for refills or follow-up appointments.


Risks

Natural family planning requires you to keep track of your body and stick to a schedule. It may not be for you if you have irregular periods or if you’re breastfeeding.


Talk to your doctor or gynecologist if you have questions about these methods or to see if natural family planning might work for you.


Family Planning services support people's decisions about when, or if, they would like to have children by offering education, counseling and birth control methods. 


Planned pregnancies spaced two or more years apart result in healthier babies and fewer medical problems for the woman.

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