What is natural family planning?

Natural family planning is a way of recognising the natural symptoms in your monthly cycle which show when you are fertile - when you are able to conceive and have a baby.

Although men are fertile most of the time when they are producing sperm, women are fertile for only a few days around the time of ovulation (that is, when an egg is produced and released from the ovary). Natural family planning allows you to work out when your fertility is at its highest, and therefore when you are more likely to conceive if you have intercourse.

Natural family planning is often confused with the 'rhythm method', which uses the menstrual history of a woman to work out when the egg will be released from the ovary. Because it is based on past history, the rhythm method has a high failure rate.

Natural family planning helps a woman to recognise her signs of fertility on a day-by-day basis. When you learn this method correctly, it is one of the safest most reliable methods you can use. If you are totally committed to it, the failure rate is less than 1%. Sometimes, however, it can be difficult to detect the time of ovulation and sometimes it can be hard to discipline yourself to do what is required. This can make the failure rate slightly higher. The method is becoming more popular as it is more clearly understood.

How does it work?

The method is based on recording your temperature and changes in your cervical mucus daily. These recordings are important because you have to know when the egg is released, and therefore when it is more likely to meet up with the sperm and result in pregnancy. Most women can easily learn to recognise their fertile symptoms when taught by a teacher trained in this method.

You will soon recognise the cycles and changes in your body and will get to know your 'fertile' days (the days you are most likely to get pregnant). Ovulation usually occurs about 14 days before your next period. The sperm is capable of fertilising (joining with the egg) for about four or five days after reaching the fallopian tube.

Recognise your fertile signs

Your basal temperature

Take your body temperature with a thermometer each day when you wake and before you get out of bed. This is known as your 'basal' temperature. You will record this temperature on a special chart. Your basal temperature changes throughout your menstrual cycle. It is usually lower before you ovulate and higher after ovulation. This temperature will only show when ovulation has occurred, not when it is likely to occur.

Your fertile mucus symptoms

Throughout your menstrual cycle the mucus around your cervix alters. As ovulation approaches, the mucus changes in texture, volume and sometimes colour. There is also a change in sensation of dryness and wetness around the genital area. The exact nature of this change varies from woman to woman. This fertile mucus helps the sperm from the man to reach the egg and fertilise it. It may also preserve the sperm for a few days. After ovulation the mucus and vaginal sensation changes again. Recording all these changes will help you to work out when your ovulation actually occurs. A Natural Fertility New Zealand educator can help women discover and monitor their own unique pattern.

Changes in your cervix

Your cervix (the neck of your womb) softens when ovulation approaches. After ovulation it gets firmer and lower. You can be taught how to be aware of these changes in much the same way as with the mucus and vaginal sensation.

The 'sympto-thermal method' combines the symptoms and temperature methods, letting you know when the sperm are likely to survive and when ovulation has occurred. This takes into account your partner's fertility as well as your own.

Note: If you are taking an oral contraceptive ('the pill') or are having the three-monthly hormone injection (Depo-Provera), you will not be able to recognise these fertile symptoms.

What are the advantages of natural family planning?

Natural family planning is a method of contraception for health-conscious people who wish to be free of drugs or devices, that may have side-effects.

It teaches you how to understand your body and gives couples control over how they manage their own fertility. Both partners share the decision about when to have intercourse and when to avoid it, which encourages communication and trust in the relationship.

Regardless of whether a woman has a regular or irregular cycles, natural family planning is suitable throughout her productive life, including menopause. It can also be used by women who suffer from pre-menstrual syndrome, so they know when their next period is due and can plan their workload and social lives accordingly.

Once you have learnt the method and bought a thermometer and recording charts, there are no ongoing costs.

It is ideal for women with a history of high blood pressure, breast cancer, endometriosis (a disease of the womb lining), blood clots, those who have lost interest in sex and those who cannot take oral contraceptives.

Natural family planning is a healthy and reliable method of family planning for breastfeeding mothers.

The method can also be used to help you to become pregnant if you have difficulty in conceiving. It is an accepted form of contraception if your religious beliefs don't allow artificial forms of contraception.

What are the disadvantages?

The 'sympto-thermal' method usually takes about three cycles for a couple to be confident about using the method without supervision.

It needs a willingness by both partners to work at it daily. You cannot always have sex whenever you want to (some people choose to use a barrier method during the fertile phase, however, this is not true natural family planning and changes the reliability rates to the barrier method chosen).

It may require additional instruction for breastfeeding women at a time when they may not have the energy or commitment.

A number of health professionals still confuse fertility awareness with the old 'rhythm method' and therefore do not always offer it as an alternative to artificial methods.

Original material provided by Natural Fertility New Zealand Inc. Edited by everybody, March 2005.