Is “Natural Family Planning” a Real Method of Birth Control?
Hi Steph,
I’ve heard that some people use “natural family planning” as birth control. What does that mean? Does it really work?
I definitely hear you on the skepticism – fertility awareness, as it’s called, takes a lot of discipline that most (myself included) just don’t have. If it weren’t for my two co-workers that swear by it, I think I’d lose faith in it all together as a method of birth control. Regardless of what you think about fertility awareness as a way to prevent or cause pregnancy, it is a fantastic way to learn more about your body and how it works.
My favorite part of fertility awareness is that it makes women more aware of their cycle. When I say cycle, I don’t mean the length of your period. I mean the number of days from the first day of one period to the first day of your next period. Once you’ve charted that over a few months, you can figure out the average length of your cycle. It can be anything from 28 days to 40 days or something else entirely. Fertility awareness only works for women who have a regular period. What’s important is that you chart your cycle for a few months and figure out how many days it is. One way to keep track of your period is to mark on your calendar every month on the first day. That will also make counting the days of your cycle much easier.
Once you’ve done that for a few months and/or when you’re confident that you know the number of days of your cycle, it’s time to figure out when you ovulate. Look at the first day of your period for one particular month, and then count back 14 days. Generally, women ovulate 14 days before their period. Ovulation can also occur a few days before and a few days after that particular day. This is the window of time in your cycle when you’re MOST likely to get pregnant. If you’re trying to become pregnant, this is the time that you want to have sex. If you’re trying to AVOID pregnancy, that week is the time when you should avoid having sex.
That’s not to say that you can’t get pregnant any other time of the month, but that sex during ovulation is the time when you’re most likely to become pregnant. Using this method, called the “calendar” method of fertility awareness, does require an understanding partner and careful monitoring of your period. I think it’s a great thing to get in the habit of doing even if you’re not using it for birth control so that you can be more in tune with your body.
There are two other methods that are associated with fertility awareness. One is the temperature method, which involves monitoring your basal body temperature over the course of your cycle to determine when you’re ovulating. The other method is called the cervical mucus method, which involves keeping track of the consistency of the mucus around your cervix. The most effective way to use these methods is to combine all three of them, giving you an even more heightened awareness of signs that you are ovulating.
How effective these methods are depends on how well you’re able to use them, like any birth control. Planned Parenthood says that “Between 12 and 25 out of every 100 couples who use fertility awareness methods each year will have a pregnancy if they don’t always use the method correctly or consistently. Always practicing these methods correctly will make them more effective. How well FAMs work depends on both partners. That’s why it is important for both to learn about the methods and support each other in their use.” Fertility awareness can be great if you have regular periods, a supportive partner, don’t take any medications, don’t have any STIs, and are willing to put in the work of monitoring your cycle.
With all that said, fertility awareness is best coupled with the emergency contraceptive pill to help prevent unwanted pregnancy.
What do you think about fertility awareness? Would you use it as your birth control method?
1Din
wrote on 3 December 2009 at 14:29
You missed the Symptothermal method, otherwise known as the Billings Method, or FAM. “Effectiveness
Of 100 couples who use the symptothermal method correctly for one year, 2 will have a pregnancy.”
Because you’re tracking cervical position, temp and mucus, and charting, you’re learning to tell when you’re going to ovulate in advance, not guesstimating based on days/the calendar.
“Knowing when your fertile days will happen can help you avoid a pregnancy. It can also help you plan one. The key is to figure out when you will ovulate. This will let you figure out the other fertile days that come before and after you ovulate. Then you can track your fertility pattern — the days of the month when you are fertile and the days of the month when you are not. You must do this carefully. Women don’t all have the same fertility pattern. And some women have different patterns from one month to the next.”
So it doesn’t matter whether your cycle is 28 days one month and 48 days the next – you’re charting your symptoms and learning how to tell when you’re fertile – every single time.
“Taking Charge of Your Fertility” (with which I have NO affiliation) is generally considered the ‘bible’ on this method.
2Steph
wrote on 3 December 2009 at 16:40
@Din THANK YOU! I am not the expert and it’s so good to read others who know more
3Dustin | Engaged Marriage
wrote on 3 December 2009 at 17:30
Thank you Din for expressing most of what I wanted to say. It drives me a bit crazy to read the misinformation that continues to float around about Natural Family Planning.
Modern NFP methods are sympto-thermal (as Din explained) and they are NOT the Calendar Method (from several decades ago)! They are not dependent on a regular cycle, and they are 98-99% effective at avoiding pregnancy (similar to contraceptives).
And of course, NFP offers many benefits aside from family planning. Improved health, lessened environmental impacts and, most importantly, incredible benefits to the marriages of those practicing it. I can certainly attest to this point.
4freewomyn
wrote on 3 December 2009 at 19:05
I think that this is definitely an option for women who don’t want to use different hormonal methods of birth control, but it would depend on constant awareness. I’m so forgetful, I don’t think it would be effective for me. Lesbianism is, though, so I’m good!
5Din
wrote on 3 December 2009 at 19:14
Thanks, Steph! FAM is *definitely* not for everybody as a TTA (trying to avoid) method. We flat out do NOT recommend it for teens, anyone with a fluctuating schedule or who didn’t do well on the pill for that reason.
For TTC or learning about your body (when not on HBC) it’s fantastic! It’s so huge to know more than just “every 28 days you bleed”.
But for those who are committed to learning it and practicing it faithfully, they can’t say enough good things about it, and it’s easy to understand why. The one thing I regret about my Mirena is that I can’t chart my cycles just for learning’s sake.
6Manda
wrote on 4 December 2009 at 7:56
I track my period so I’ll notice if I’m late or miss one, and it’s kind of become our second form of birth control. We use condoms like they’re going out of style and generally avoid having sex the entire second week after my period. It’s been working pretty good for the last 15 months
Personally though, it still leaves me paranoid and we’re still looking into sterilization options.
7Nfpworks
wrote on 4 December 2009 at 12:51
Thank you Din, Dustin & Team for getting on the correction! I’m thankful for this blogpost, which does attempt to clear up misconceptions (no pun intended) about natural methods of family planning, and show that it’s a wide variety of women who use this method. However, the methodology is not about numbers (count 14 days, etc.). That is closer to the Rhythm Method, which has a much lower rate of effectiveness for postponing pregnancy.
For more info, read “Taking Charge of Your Fertility.” The best choice, as always is to get personal instruction because it helps with all the nuances of observing fertility, which is different from person to person.
See njnfp.org or fertilitycare.org for more info beyond the book, and for teachers near you.
PS: about sterilization–it may seem like a safe option, but I would do a little more research. First, it’s NOT %100 effective (case-in-point: my hubbie’s old doctor had a post-vasectomy baby), and tends to contribute to the development of auto-immune diseases and post-tubal ligation syndrome as well.For more info: http://www.omsoul.com/pamphlet310.Female-Sterilization.html (It’s religious,but refers to the medical problems also.)
8Michelle Bell
wrote on 4 December 2009 at 15:12
My husband and I have been using the symptothermal method for about three years and it works wonderfully. It takes a bit to get the measuring and checks built into daily routines, but once they’re there, it takes almost no extra time.
I think the concept behind FAM (charting and being aware of what’s going on in a person’s body) SHOULD be information that is taught to teens. I am 24, and when my partner and I discovered this method as an alternative to HBC, we were pissed that this was never presented as an option!
9Maria
wrote on 5 December 2009 at 19:47
I loved the FAM method when my husband and I used it a few years ago. Without the pill, I finally had a sex drive! And I just plain felt better. But after six months of practicing FAM, I got pregnant immediately after my father-in-law died, since the stress of his final week disrupted my signals and delayed ovulation. I was not prepared for that.
It’s a hard lesson, however my husband and I are still very happy to have our daughter. Now I have the Mirena IUD and am okay with that, but the fact that I can still feel it in my uterus, and the lack of sex drive is still disappointing. I’m resigned to chemical birth control for another five years or so to see if we can have another kid, and then one of us is getting snipped!
However, most people I know who have used FAM (probably half a dozen) have used it successfully for several years.
I discovered the method through a friend at age 32, and after reading “Taking Charge of Your Fertility,” I was shocked at how little I knew about my body and my cycle. I prided myself on being well educated on sexual matters.
The enhanced body awareness is empowering. And I agree with Michelle that this information should be taught to teens. It would have saved me some grief in the past if I’d known this stuff, earlier.
10Sheila Kippley
wrote on 11 December 2009 at 9:47
Another method which is the most natural of the natural family planning methods is ecological breastfeeding characterized by the maternal behaviors called the Seven Standards and is great for birth spacing. For information on all the signs and rules for fertility awareness and eco-breastfeeding, you can download the NFP manual, Natural Family Planning: The Complete Approach, for free (plus free charts) at http://www.NFPandmore.org. Sheila, volunteer for NFP International