Natural Family Planning Methods – Safe, Inexpensive and No Side Effects

Family planning has been a necessity since time unknown. An unmarried or a married couple is cautious about unwanted pregnancies since they are not prepared for it all the time. There are innumerous methods available today that are both effective and foolproof. However, these methods that are developed by a lot of scientific research may prove to be impractical in cases where certain customs and rituals prohibit the use of it or it is the cost of these methods that are a matter of concern or lastly, the dreadful side effects for the women that may hinder their normal lifestyle. Even before these artificially fabricated methods were developed, man has been practicing natural methods of birth control for ages now. Natural family planning methods are not only safe but they are 100% side-effects-free and inexpensive as well.

To implement these methods onto your regular birth control measures you need proper education of the same as well as a lot of practice to get a hang of it. With limited knowledge and improper calculations there is no guarantee that it would not lead to pregnancy that is uncalled for. So let’s have a look at all these natural family planning methods to gain more knowledge about them.

1. Standard Days Method:

This method is majorly based on a lot of scientific research undertaken on 7,500 different menstrual cycles. Understanding this method is simple. The first day of your periods is the Day 1 of your cycle. From Day1 to Day7 you are infertile so it is safe to have unprotected sex. From Day8 to Day19 you are at your most fertile phase. You must use alternative contraception or have no intercourse at all. Day20 to Day 32 is again safe to practice sex. This method is applicable to only those women whose menstrual cycle is between 26-32 days.

This method needs no calculations, record-keeping or physical exams like in other natural family planning methods. To assist you with this method a colored beaded chain is available in the market. A rubber ring on the beads helps you keep a track of your fertile and infertile days by regularly changing its position over the 32 beads each day.

2. The Ovulation method:

This is also referred to as the cervical mucus method. It is based on interpreting the appearance and feel of the cervical mucus secretions. At the peak of fertility these secretions are clear in texture, sticky and wet in consistency and also stretchy. It resembles the egg white of an uncooked egg. This helps you understand your fertile days.

3. Symptothermal method:

This method involves observing the overall bodily changes that occur on account of ovulation. You see changes in cervical mucus, a rise in the body temperature by 0.2- 0.4 degree Celsius. a change in the position and feel of the opening of the cervix and also other occurrences of bloating, pain in the area of the ovaries, low backache and breast tenderness.

4. Rhythm method:

This method is a little unreliable because it depends on calculations of certain days of a woman’s cycle which have high chances of variations. It is a method based on three line of thought. Firstly, a woman ovulates 14 days before the onset of menstruation, plus or minus 2 days. Secondly, sperm can survive inside a woman’s body for 3 days. Thirdly, an egg can only be fertilized within 24 hours of its release from the ovaries. Based on these assumptions calculations are done. It is not recommended for women with irregular menstrual cycles.