fertility awareness methods
+ daysy fertility tracker discount code
There are many signs your body gives you throughout the month to indicate when you are ovulating and/or your period is on the way. Fertility awareness methods (FAM’s) are natural methods by which women observe these physical symptoms throughout their monthly cycle to determine their ‘fertile window’.
You can use FAM’s even if you don’t have a regular cycle, or if it is missing all together. It can actually be really motivating in HA recovery when you start to see patterns & increases; further to predict whether or not ovulation has occurred prior to your first recovery period.
All fertility awareness methods are based on the same two principles:
Women can only become pregnant if they have unprotected sex within this fertile window - i.e. a maximum of five days before ovulation.
2. Women usually only ovulate once per cycle. However, if they ovulate more than once, the second ovulation takes place within 24 hours of the first one.(2)
The length of the fertile window is defined by the maximum lifespan of sperm in the uterus (up to five days), and the lifespan of the unfertilised egg (up to 24 hours after ovulation).(2)
types of fertility awareness methods:
CERVICAL MUCUS ANALYSIS
Cervical mucus is a hydrogel secreted by glands found around the cervix. Its job is to either prevent things from entering the uterus through the cervix or neutralise the PH level of the vagina; nourishing and assisting in the transportation of sperm from the cervix to the uterus for implantation (pregnancy).
The consistency of the cervical mucus is influenced by the hormone estrogen in the phase before ovulation. By observing and accurately interpreting this estrogen parameter, it is possible to narrow down the fertile window relatively precisely in order to use these days successfully for pregnancy planning.
If you want to learn how to analyse your cervical mucus throughout the month, you can read more here.
MEASUREMENT OF BASAL BODY TEMPERATURE
In the second half of your menstrual cycle, about 24 hours after ovulation, your body temperature rises due to the increase of progesterone. It remains higher (approx. 0.2 °C above the average temperature level of the follicular phase) throughout the next few weeks and then, right before menstruation, it drops with the decrease of progesterone (unless you are pregnant in which case it will remain elevated).
Tracking BBT is done by using a thermometer to take your temperature at the same time every morning when you're fully at rest. In order to track accurately, you must do this before you do anything (sitting up, talking, drinking, check your phone etc). As you take your temperature, you record it on a chart like this one or an app like Ovia and Clue.
The changes in your temperature will be really small (fractions of a degree) so make sure your thermometer has a 0.10 degree accuracy for fahrenheit and 0.01 degree for celsius. The changes may happen quickly or slowly, and the pattern may be different from cycle to cycle.
As you keep tracking, you’ll start to see a pattern, and what you’re looking for is an overall pattern, as opposed to a temperature spike here or there. As you see at least three higher than normal temperatures in a row, you can most likely say that ovulation occurred on the day before the first high temperature. If you’ve also been tracking cervical mucus, you would’ve noticed a consistency change on the days leading up to this temperature rise also.
Things like disturbed sleep, heavy drinking, jet lag, illness and medications can interfere with your normal temperature, so make sure to write stuff like this down on your chart to help you figure out when these changes in your temperature aren’t part of your natural menstrual cycle.
CALENDAR METHOD
The calculation of the fertile window is based on the average length of your previous cycle. It is assumed that the luteal phase, the second half of the cycle after ovulation, is always 14 days long. The fertile window opens four days before and closes three days after the predicted time. Information from the current cycle is not taken into account in this type of calculation. Since ovulation and thus the individual fertile window can fluctuate by an average of 5 days within a year, this method is at best recommended for general observation (3) and not nearly as reliable as the two methods above.
things to note:
The effectiveness of FAM varies depending on the combination of tracking you use. As each method relies on different signs to predict fertility, using them together gives you the best picture and makes them more accurate. For example, keeping track of your cervical mucus pattern can be useful if your temperature chart gets messed up because you’re sick. And using more than 1 method may help you narrow down your fertile days, so you will more safe days each month.
In saying this, if you are trying to avoid getting pregnant, it is highly recommended to use alternative contraception - especially around ‘fertile’ days.
The benefits of FAM’s are that they are free, non-pharmaceutical and promote developing a better awareness of your body. The disadvantages are that it usually takes a few months of monitoring cycle to note patterns.
If you are looking for convenience, and slightly more accuracy - I highly recommend checking out Daysy.
the daysy fertility tracker:
Daysy is a fertility tracking device that basically does all the work for you. It takes your temperature, stores your data, and calculates your fertility status every morning. It means you don’t need to analyse any data yourself (reducing potential errors) and it works with cycles from 19-40 days because lets be honest, how many of us have a perfect 28 day cycle!?
It is extremely user friendly. Once you take your temperature in the morning, it gives you a red, green, or yellow light to let you know your fertility status that day, and you can use the colours to make decisions based on your fertility goals.
A red light indicates you are fertile/possibly fertile and can become pregnant, a green light indicates you are not fertile, a red flashing light indicates its your predicted day of ovulation and yellow days indicate cycle variations.
By syncing your Daysy with your phone you can view your cycle information in the DaysyDay app and it predicts colours for the week ahead too. The app also has space to track period symptoms, sex, cervical mucus etc which empowers a deeper connection with your body.
1. CDC – Fertility Awareness–Based Methods – USMEC – Reproductive Health. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/contraception/mmwr/mec/appendixf.html (Accessed: 1st April 2019)
2. Wilcox, A. J., Dunson, D. & Baird, D. D. The timing of the "fertile window" in the menstrual cycle: day specific estimates from a prospective study. BMJ 321, 1259–62 (2000).
3. Johnson, S., Marriott, L. & Zinaman, M. Can apps and calendar methods predict ovulation with accuracy? Curr. Med. Res. Opin. 34, 1587–1594 (2018).
This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) should you choose to purchase through a link on this page.