Natural Birth Control is the daily process of observing 3 fertility signs throughout each menstrual cycle to determine our fertile and infertile times.
Artist: Lisete Alcalde
Natural Birth Control
A personal journey
Natural birth control, otherwise known as The Fertility Awareness Method (FAM), is the journey of following your body’s natural rhythm as a means of health and well being. We can use our daily fertility signs to ask ourselves “am I fertile today?” without having to calculate past cycle lengths. Fertility Awareness is hormone-free, low cost, and has zero unpleasant or dangerous side effects; it is simply empowering for women and couples who utilize it to interpret their fertility!
3 Fertility signs
Basal Body Temperature (BBT), Cervical Mucus (CM) and Cervix position help to indicate the fertile and infertile windows of each menstrual cycle. By following the rules of FAM, we discover the ability to try to conceive, abstain, or use a barrier method during each fertile window (99.6% effective when used for contraception).
The Unique and Special gift of Fertility Awareness
Natural birth control is a portal into our hormonal health, allowing us to figure out how to nourish our body’s needs throughout each fertility cycle. Learning to follow our own charts allows us to receive a complete understanding of the importance in caring for our overall health. The secret element to personal bliss is to follow this rhythm as it is our spiritual guidance.
Click here for tips to begin charting your cycle
You will discover:
- The difference between typical cycle structure versus those that may have health issues
- Why you may be more or less interested in sex at certain parts of your cycle
- Mental, physical or emotional changes your body might experience during the course of your cycle
- FAM requires some time to learn but once it’s learned, it becomes a 5 minute/day practice.
- It is a life-long self-care and medical tool that is based in body literacy and leads to empowered decisions about our health and fertility.
What do I need in order to track my fertility? (low cost)
- Basal Body Thermometer for daily basal body temperature
- A printed chart, journal or fertility app (ie: Kindara) to record: temperature, cervical fluid, optional cervix and mood observations
- A genuine desire to begin your personal journey
- Practice the method for 3 months, daily, before having unprotected sex
To practice Natural Birth Control, use these resources:
- Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler
- The Fifth Vital Sign by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack
- Find a fertility awareness instructor online or locally in town
- Find a loving and trustworthy Gynecologist for regular check-ups
positives
- Low cost
- Hormone free
- Menstruation tracking
- Mood tracking
- Promotes healthy body awareness
- Requires minimal daily attention
- 99.6% contraceptive effectiveness when practiced with perfect use
- Supports with getting pregnant, AND preventing pregnancy
- Promotes use for both irregular and regular menstrual cycles
disadvantages
- Requires correct and constant use for an effective outcome
- Requires discipline and motivation to to chart regularly
- Takes an initial time period to learn the method and put it to practice (3 months)
- Does not prevent against HIV infection (AIDS) or any other sexually transmitted infections (STI’s)
Keep in mind
The terms Natural Birth Control and Fertility Awareness Based Method are umbrella terms used for a list of unique birth control methods, each specifically designed to fit your personal birth control of choice. Throughout this site I will mainly refer to the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM), also known as the Sympto-Thermal Method.
