women s health issues
Fertility Awareness Based Methods of Contraception
Introduction
Fertility awareness methods involve identifying which days a woman is likely to be fertile during her Menstrual Cycle . This information can be used to increase the chance of becoming pregnant or to prevent pregnancy. When used to prevent pregnancy, these methods depend on abstinence from sexual intercourse during the woman’s fertile time of the month. In most women, the ovary releases an egg about 14 days before the start of a menstrual period. Although the unfertilized egg survives only about 12 hours, sperm can survive for as long as 5 days after intercourse. Consequently, fertilization can result from intercourse that occurred up to 5 days before ovulation (when the egg is released), as well as at ovulation. There are several fertility awareness methods: Calendar method: Sexual intercourse is avoided on days 8 through 12 of the menstrual cycle. Mucus method: This method is based on the woman's observation of secretions (cervical mucus) from the vagina, Symptothermal method: A combination of body temperature at rest (basal body temperature), observation of cervical mucus, and use of the calendar method. Each method tries to estimate when ovulation occurs and thus determine which days the woman is fertile. These methods require training, effort, and many steps to be effective. Fewer women become pregnant with perfect use of the symptothermal method than with the calendar or mucus methods. However, the percentage of women who become pregnant with typical use of any of these methods is high. Thus, these methods are not recommended for women who strongly want to avoid pregnancy. Method Percentage of Women Who Become Pregnant During First Year of Use With Perfect Use Percentage of Women Who Become Pregnant During First Year of Use With Typical Use Calendar method 5% 12% Mucus method 4% 14% Symptothermal < 1% 2% Thelactational amenorrhea methodis another method. It can be used after delivery of a baby if a woman is breastfeeding. It can be very effective under certain circumstances. Sperm can survive (and fertilize an egg) up to 5 days after sexual intercourse. 