For decades we were taught that in order to manipulate our fertility we need to talk to the gynecologist. We have been led to believe that if we want to prevent or achieve pregnancy, we must consult someone outside of us, ideally a doctor.
The fertility awareness method offers us this knowledge and much more.
The truth is that our body is amazing and gives us 3 signs of fertility and by learning what they are, how to recognize them and follow them, we can know a lot about our body. We can learn when our fertile period begins and when it ends, we can learn how our hormones work, do we ovulate? We can learn if there is an imbalance and the most important thing in my opinion is that we know how our body works, learn to communicate with it and make better decisions for ourselves.
The three signs of fertility that our body gives us are cervical fluid, the temperature of the dawn heat and the position of the cervix. These are the signs we follow when we work with a fertility awareness method also called Sympatho-Thermal Single Check. I also add to this one more calculation law that is based on your history in order to increase the effectiveness of the method, and it is called sympto-thermal double check (two tests).
During the cycle and under the influence of estrogen and progesterone, these 3 signs change and allow us to know when we are fertile and when we are not, so that we can act according to our goals.
If it is to avoid pregnancy, the couple should discuss what they are going to do during the fertile days or if the goal is to achieve pregnancy, by knowing when the fertile period begins, the couple can maximize the time of fertility.
In order for us to be able to use the fertility awareness method as a contraceptive, there is a set of rules that must be followed and when used correctly, the effectiveness rate of this method is 98.2% in typical use.
A word about the effectiveness rate: when we talk about the effectiveness rate of contraceptives, there are two important figures; One in perfect use which is usually higher and the meaning is that 100% of the time you use it 100% correctly. What we would like to see is the figure of typical usage, as a result of human error. For example, the pill is 99.7% and in typical use only 91%!
How does our body work and why does this method work? During the first part of our cycle, our ovaries produce estrogen and under the influence of estrogen, the endometrium begins to grow again after being shed during our period. Our cervix begins to produce fluid that alerts us that we are now fertile. These cervical fluids are a kind of magic, without them fertilization cannot take place and they have some super unique properties. In this part of the cycle, an egg in the ovary reaches maturity with the hope of ovulation.
As soon as we ovulate, our ovary from which the egg was released will begin to produce progesterone which blocks the possibility of another ovulation occurring in this cycle and causes various changes in our body.
Furthermore, before we produce estrogen, our vagina is acidic, the cervix is low and closed, so the whole area acts as a spermicide because sperm cannot live in an acidic environment. Once we have estrogen and begin to produce cervical fluid, our vagina is no longer acidic, the cervix opens and ovulation occurs which means fertilization is possible. The lifespan of the egg is 12-24 hours and as soon as it breaks out of the follicle, the progesterone takes over and everything returns.
A few years ago our period was recognized as our fifth vital sign. All humans have 4 vital signs which include blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate and body temperature which are indicators of normal health. Women have one more vital sign which is our period. This gives us a good indication of our overall health each cycle, as all of our endocrine systems work together in harmony. If there is any problem with one of these systems, we can see it in our monitoring and treat it or go to the doctor to help us take better care of us.
Ovulation and our natural hormones have many health benefits and allowing our bodies to go through natural cycles is the only way for our bodies to produce our natural hormones and enjoy the benefits of these hormones. They contribute to heart health, bone health, brain, libido, our vaginal lining, digestion and more.
If we are not ovulating for some reason, we need to look into why.
If we use artificial hormones, they come with many side effects that you may not feel but they happen in your body and again, you do not enjoy the benefits that your natural hormones do to your body and your mineral and vitamin stores may be depleted.
For many years we have been deprived of our birthright to know how our bodies work. Many times, when we know how the body works, many symptoms we had suddenly disappear, when we learn to respect and work with our body and not against it.