Fertility awareness method
| Fertility awareness | |
|---|---|
| Background | |
| Type | Behavioral |
| First use | 1950s (mucus) mid-1930s (BBT) 1930 (Knaus-Ogino) Ancient (ad hoc) |
| Failure rates (first year) | |
| Perfect use | Symptothermal method: 0.4% Ovulation method: 3% TwoDay method: 4% Standard Days method: 5% |
| Typical use | 24% |
| Usage | |
| Reversibility | Yes |
| User reminders | Dependent upon strict user adherence to methodology |
| Advantages and disadvantages | |
| STI protection | No |
| Periods | Increased prediction |
| Benefits | No side effects, can aid pregnancy achievement, personal self-awareness |
Fertility awareness (FA) refers to a set of practices used to determine the fertile and infertile phases of a woman's menstrual cycle. Fertility awareness methods may be used to avoid pregnancy, to achieve pregnancy, or as a way to monitor gynecological health.
Methods of identifying infertile days have been known since antiquity, but scientific knowledge gained during the past century has increased the number and variety of methods.
Systems of fertility awareness rely on observation of changes in one or more of the primary fertility signs (basal body temperature, cervical mucus, and cervical position), tracking menstrual cycle length and identifying the fertile window based on this information, or both. Other signs may also be observed: these include breast tenderness and mittelschmerz (ovulation pains), urine analysis strips known as ovulation predictor kits (OPKs), and microscopic examination of saliva or cervical fluid. Also available are computerized fertility monitors.
Symptoms-based methods involve tracking one or more of the three primary fertility signs: basal body temperature, cervical mucus, and cervical position. Systems relying exclusively on cervical mucus include the Billings Ovulation Method, the Ovulation Method, the Creighton Model, and the Two-Day Method. Symptothermal methods combine observations of basal body temperature (BBT), cervical mucus, and sometimes cervical position. Calendar-based methods rely on tracking a woman's cycle and identifying her fertile window based on the lengths of her cycles. The best known of these methods is the Standard Days Method. The Calendar-Rhythm method is also considered a calendar-based method, though it is not well defined and has many different meanings to different people.
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