By Rachel Morgan, herbalist, hormone specialist and Fertility Awareness Method coach
No method of contraception or family planning is 100% effective, including the Pill and sterilisation. The benefit of the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) is that it has no side-effects, it places you in control and, if you follow the rules carefully, is 98% effective when used to avoid pregnancy. Should you subsequently decide you wish to achieve pregnancy, you do not need to wait while your hormones re-adjust themselves after using hormonal contraceptives and you know when you are at your most fertile. Knowing and understanding your cycle is also helpful in maintaining optimal health, so charting is a useful thing to do even if seeking to achieve or avoid pregnancy is not relevant to you at the moment.
When you understand the symptoms of your menstrual cycle and have the relevant information on the lifespan of sperm and eggs, you have all the information you need to know whether or not you have ovulated and when your most fertile time is.
TRACKING YOUR SYMPTOMS
There are various methods for tracking fertility. The method I teach is the Sympto-Thermal Method which uses four indicators:
- Body temperature
- Cervical mucous
- Changes in the cervix
- Days of your cycle
Body Temperature
Ideally, you need to be able to record your temperature to two digital places, so a digital thermometer is advisable and there are a number of thermometers that have been specifically designed for FAM purposes. It is fine to use a liquid-in-glass thermometer, but these are generally slower and have to be shaken back down after use.
You can take your temperature orally, rectally or vaginally. Do not take it anywhere else (such as your ear or forehead) as other readings are not sufficiently reliable for FAM purposes. It is important that you use the same method every day (so do not take it orally one day and vaginally the next).
Take your temperature first thing in the morning while you are still in bed and before you do anything else. Ideally, you should take it at the same time every day.
Body temperature rises sharply after ovulation. Once released, an egg is only fertilizable for less than a day, so this indicator shows whether or not you have ovulated and helps identify when in your cycle you are infertile (generally 48 hours after ovulation it is safe to assume you are in the infertile phase of your cycle).
Cervical mucous
Cervical mucous changes during your cycle and sperm survival time depends on the type and quality of cervical secretions. The vagina has a naturally acidic environment that will kill sperm in a number of hours. When you are in your infertile time, the cervix produces a mucous that is glue-like or tacky which blocks the cervical opening, preventing sperm from entering. As you enter your fertile phase you will start to produce secretions that are more fluid. These secretions have the ability to filter out defective sperm and create swimming lanes and nourishment for the sperm. With the help of these secretions, sperm can survive for up to a week in your vagina. Understanding your mucous patterns is therefore very helpful in identifying your fertile and infertile times. The pre-ovulatory phase of your cycle is known as the relatively infertile period and most unplanned pregnancies occur in this phase. When you start to produce fertile mucous (which could be before your period ends if you have short cycles of 26 days), you should consider yourself to be potentially fertile. Fertile mucous is similar in texture to egg white. Your fertile phase starts at the earliest time that sperm can survive in the vagina and cervix and continues up to the time when the egg is no longer fertilizable.
Your vagina is self-cleaning and you do not need to use douches or cleaning sprays after sex (or regularly for other reasons). Regular use of these products can alter the acidic environment of the vagina and reduce its natural resistance to infection.
Cervix
The opening of your cervix moves and changes during your cycle. Before and after ovulation it is firm, low, closed and dry. As you approach ovulation it will start to soften and open. It will also be in a higher position in your vagina and will be wet. The cervix therefore provides another helpful indicator of fertility. You can still use the Sympto-Thermal Method without checking your cervix, but it is useful to try and get comfortable with checking this as it can provide invaluable information on fertility during peri-menopause or after coming off the pill when periods can become very erratic.
Days of your cycle
When you have recorded information for a few months you can start to use the days of the cycle to calculate your potentially fertile periods.
USING THE INFORMATION
There are several ways of recording and using the information and you should use whatever works best for you. There are many different apps if you prefer digitally stored information, but bear in mind that these are not regulated and reliability can vary. Many women only know where they are in their cycle by checking on their phone. Ideally, I would like everyone to know where they are in their cycle simply by becoming familiar with how their body is working and feeling.
As you start recording the symptoms of your menstrual cycle, you have all the information you need to know whether or not you have ovulated and when your most fertile time is. You may also start to notice where in your cycle you experience other symptoms (such as pain, bloating, breast tenderness, moods, and altered bowel motions). With many of these symptoms there are things you can do to help relieve them. You can also monitor how eating different foods or taking different exercises impact on your cycle. You can use all of this information to help optimise your health and well-being naturally. You may also more easily recognize when things are not right and you need to see a doctor.
About Rachel Morgan:
Rachel is a herbalist, hormone specialist and Fertility Awareness Method coach. She is also a qualified aromatherapist and an advanced clinical massage therapist.
Rachel worked as a solicitor in London for many years before deciding to retrain as a herbalist. The catalyst for change was a book on herbal medicine that she saw in the window of a second-hand bookshop, that she found so fascinating it prompted a period of study into herbs. Having seen firsthand how stress and lifestyle can affect health and well-being, Rachel decided to re-focus all her attention and studies on supporting people in optimizing their health with natural products.
Rachel holds diplomas in herbal medicine, naturopathy, iridology and aromatherapy and essential oil science and has completed courses on the female microbiome, balancing hormones, holistic herbal evaluation and clinical strategies and holistic therapeutics for herbal mastery.
She is a member of the Association of Master Herbalists and the International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists, and is currently vice chair of the Association of Master Herbalists.
www.brightonhoveherbalist.co.uk
