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Fertility Awareness |
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There are various methods of birth control which are known to be safe today, like barrier methods, sterilization methods and fertility awareness methods (FAM). Each method has its advantages, risks and reliability levels. Birth control is synonymously used with contraception and it usually means any set of actions, devices or medications followed in order to deliberately reduce the likelihood of pregnancy or childbirth. Birth control methods are available for both males and females. Apart from birth control, some methods like the condom even provide significant protection STD (Sexually Transmitted Diseases). The oldest forms of birth control include coitus interruptus, pessaries and ingestion of herbs.
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Because of the sensitive nature of the subject, acceptance of various methods for birth control is highly dependent on cultural and ethnic beliefs.
There are known periods of fertility and infertility during the menstrual cycle which can be tracked using various methods. Identifying these periods through behavioral methods is called fertility awareness. The lesser accurate method is the calendar based method such as the Rhythm Method and the Standard Days Method. Here the fertility awareness is determined by studying the menstrual cycle periods and its starting day. Various devices such as the CycleBeads are used to chart the menstrual cycle of a woman.
The symptoms based methods of fertility awareness is carried out by recording a woman’s fertility signs through the three primary signs, changes in basal body temperature, in cervical mucus (also known as the ovulation method) and in cervical position. Symptothermal is the method wherein the basal body temperature and another primary fertility sign are recorded and used to determine the fertility of a woman. Some fertility monitoring devices check the estrogen and luteinizing hormone throughout the menstrual cycle and determine the fertility and infertility periods. By using these fertility awareness methods, unplanned pregnancy can be controlled and avoided.
Once the fertility periods are determined, sexual intercourse can be avoided during these periods. Otherwise an alternate contraceptive method must be used in order to prevent pregnancy. Fertility awareness methods are also called natural family planning or periodic abstinence. Postpartum women can face specific challenges while using fertility awareness methods. For example in the basal body temperature method (BBT) the body temperature must be recorded every morning at the same time after a continuous sleep of at least three hours. This is highly unlikely while taking care of a young baby. Even the calendar based fertility awareness methods does not work as you have to wait till menstrual cycle resumes and after an occurrence of regular menstrual cycles, periods of fertility and infertility can be determined again.
There are a few guidelines to following FAM effectively. Intercourse is allowed in the first 5 days of the menstrual cycle (beginning with the first day of your period). Intercourse is allowed the evening of every dry cervical fluid day before ovulation. Intercourse can resume the evening of the third consecutive day your temperature rises to postovulatory levels. Intercourse can resume the evening of the fourth consecutive day after your peak cervical fluid day. These are the four basic rules which should be followed while determining fertility periods of a woman.
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