I am not trained or certified to teach this material. Please use this as a starting place and read the suggested resources for more information. **Please do not use this information for birth control without first taking a class with a Certified Fertility Awareness Professional, like Ashley Hartman Annis.**
Fertility Awareness Method (FAM)
![Picture](/uploads/2/9/0/4/29046721/editor/taking-charge-of-your-fertility-w.jpg?1517200313)
A method for general health, birth control, and pregnancy achievement
Did you know that you can only get pregnant during about six days of each menstrual cycle? Fertility signs like basal body temperature and cervical fluid will tell you when your fertile window begins and when it ends. Outside of this window, you cannot get pregnant.
Benefits of charting your cycles
Why it's not more popular
There's no profit to be made from Fertility Awareness like there is with the pharmaceutical industry, meaning there's not as much funding for research and marketing. There is still a lot of misinformation with people confusing it with the standard days method and the rhythm method, which do not rely on real-time, observable date specific to you and your current cycle. In order for the Fertility Awareness Method to work, you have to follow the rules. The benefit here is that you can customize it to your lifestyle and the amount of risk you feel comfortable with, but many studies on its effectiveness do not take into account instances where people have gotten pregnant from intentionally breaking the rules of FAM. As a result of all of these reasons, FAM is not usually taught in medical school, so many doctors further the spread of misinformation.
Cervical fluid is crucial for the survival of sperm in the otherwise dry, acidic vagina. Women only produce cervical fluid for a few days leading up to ovulation. If there is cervical fluid present, sperm can still only survive up to five days. This means that there must be cervical fluid present and the woman must ovulate within five days after intercourse for conception to occur.
Basal body temperature (BBT) is taken each morning when you first wake up (preferably around the same time each day). A simple basal body thermometer can be purchased from any drug store and is more accurate than a normal fever thermometer. Temperature will be lower during the first half of the cycle and will show an obvious shift to higher temperatures after ovulation. The temperature remains high until just before the next menstrual cycle. After ovulation occurs, it is not possible to get pregnant for the rest of the cycle.
The menstrual cycle has two main phases, in addition to menstruation and ovulation: the follicular phase and the luteal phase. The follicular phase is the first half of the cycle--from menstruation until ovulation. This is when lining of the uterus builds and cervical fluid begins to appear. The second half of the cycle is the luteal phase. After ovulation, progesterone levels rise, causing an increase in body temperature, which is sustained until the end of the cycle, giving the egg (if fertilized) a chance to implant in the uterine lining. Knowing the length of your luteal phase, as well as other details from charting, can help diagnose problems with nutrition, hormone deficiencies, stress levels, and other conditions.
Cautions about charting apps
There are many charting and period tracking apps these days that are misleading. Many of these apps use the standard days method (based on a generic 28-day cycle) to make predictions which are not accurate. Kindara is one app that was designed by Fertility Awareness Professionals, but the best way to learn the method is still to learn to interpret your own signs with a paper chart.
Read this brochure from Natural Womanhood for a brief overview of FAM: "Know Your Body".
To learn more, visit your local library for a copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility. Then find a Certified Fertility Awareness Educator near you or take an online class. **It is recommended that you take a Fertility Awareness class with a certified teacher and chart your cycles for three months before using the Fertility Awareness Method for birth control.**
Did you know that you can only get pregnant during about six days of each menstrual cycle? Fertility signs like basal body temperature and cervical fluid will tell you when your fertile window begins and when it ends. Outside of this window, you cannot get pregnant.
Benefits of charting your cycles
- Know about your own body and learn to understand and trust what it's telling you
- Work with your body in a simple, sustainable, noninvasive way
- Choose your actions based on a real understanding of your options, and accept responsibility for the risks you take
- Diagnose hormonal and nutrient deficiencies and health conditions like PCOS and endometriosis
- Once you have the skills, you have them for life. All it takes a few hours of instruction to learn and a couple minutes a day to observe signs and write them down. All you need is a basal body thermometer, pen, paper chart, and a teacher.
- Know if you're pregnant and when you conceived (This changes your options and your expected due date.)
- Diagnose why you're having trouble getting pregnant and save yourself from unnecessarily invasive fertility procedures
- Improve communication and increase intimacy with your partner by learning to openly discuss and negotiate your choices and actions
Why it's not more popular
There's no profit to be made from Fertility Awareness like there is with the pharmaceutical industry, meaning there's not as much funding for research and marketing. There is still a lot of misinformation with people confusing it with the standard days method and the rhythm method, which do not rely on real-time, observable date specific to you and your current cycle. In order for the Fertility Awareness Method to work, you have to follow the rules. The benefit here is that you can customize it to your lifestyle and the amount of risk you feel comfortable with, but many studies on its effectiveness do not take into account instances where people have gotten pregnant from intentionally breaking the rules of FAM. As a result of all of these reasons, FAM is not usually taught in medical school, so many doctors further the spread of misinformation.
- "Fertility awareness based methods correct use effectiveness rates range from 95.2-99.6%" -- "Fertility Awareness Based Methods: A Medical Update"
Cervical fluid is crucial for the survival of sperm in the otherwise dry, acidic vagina. Women only produce cervical fluid for a few days leading up to ovulation. If there is cervical fluid present, sperm can still only survive up to five days. This means that there must be cervical fluid present and the woman must ovulate within five days after intercourse for conception to occur.
Basal body temperature (BBT) is taken each morning when you first wake up (preferably around the same time each day). A simple basal body thermometer can be purchased from any drug store and is more accurate than a normal fever thermometer. Temperature will be lower during the first half of the cycle and will show an obvious shift to higher temperatures after ovulation. The temperature remains high until just before the next menstrual cycle. After ovulation occurs, it is not possible to get pregnant for the rest of the cycle.
The menstrual cycle has two main phases, in addition to menstruation and ovulation: the follicular phase and the luteal phase. The follicular phase is the first half of the cycle--from menstruation until ovulation. This is when lining of the uterus builds and cervical fluid begins to appear. The second half of the cycle is the luteal phase. After ovulation, progesterone levels rise, causing an increase in body temperature, which is sustained until the end of the cycle, giving the egg (if fertilized) a chance to implant in the uterine lining. Knowing the length of your luteal phase, as well as other details from charting, can help diagnose problems with nutrition, hormone deficiencies, stress levels, and other conditions.
Cautions about charting apps
There are many charting and period tracking apps these days that are misleading. Many of these apps use the standard days method (based on a generic 28-day cycle) to make predictions which are not accurate. Kindara is one app that was designed by Fertility Awareness Professionals, but the best way to learn the method is still to learn to interpret your own signs with a paper chart.
Read this brochure from Natural Womanhood for a brief overview of FAM: "Know Your Body".
To learn more, visit your local library for a copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility. Then find a Certified Fertility Awareness Educator near you or take an online class. **It is recommended that you take a Fertility Awareness class with a certified teacher and chart your cycles for three months before using the Fertility Awareness Method for birth control.**
Reproductive & Menstrual Health
Downsides and risks of hormonal birth control
Though hormonal birth control (the pill, NuvaRing, Mirena IUD, Nexplanon implant, birth control patch, Depo-Provera shot) have their benefits and can be a huge help for certain people during certain parts of their life, it is important to understand how hormonal birth control works. Hormonal birth control works by preventing ovulation. Ovulation is how women make the hormones that keep them healthy. These hormones are necessary for healthy bones, muscles, metabolism, and mood.
The synthetic progestin contained in hormonal birth control is not the same thing as the progesterone produced by your body and does not have the same beneficial effects. Progesterone is beneficial for cardiovascular health, stimulates hair growth, calms mood and promotes sleep, and prevents breast cancer. Progestin increases the risk of fatal blood clots, can cause hair loss, may cause anxiety and depression, and increases the risk of breast cancer. Read these articles by Lara Briden to learn more: Painful periods and PMS Many people think it is normal to have painful periods or PMS. While it is overwhelmingly common, your period does not have to be painful. Read Lara Briden's blog or her Period Repair Manual for help making your periods easy and painless. Dr. Briden's biggest suggestion is taking magnesium supplements.
Stress and Hormones When we're stressed, our bodies use the pregnenolone that's usually used to make estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone to instead produce cortisol. Over time, this can result in hormone deficiencies, which can cause other problems.
Menstrual products These days, organic cotton tampons are becoming more popular as people become more aware of the additives and chemicals in conventional tampons. But tampons still create a lot of unnecessary waste, and they dry out the delicate environment of the vagina. I highly recommend menstrual cups. I like Sckoon cup, but that's just a personal preference. Reusable organic cotton pads are great, but I find period underwear like Thinkx to be more comfortable. Please consider sustainability when choosing menstrual products. Vaginal microbiome "The human vagina has been found to secrete glycogen that supports an indigenous population of lactobacilli, which ferment the glycogen into lactic acid, thereby protecting the vagina from pathogenic bacteria, which cannot survive in an acid environment." -- Sandor Katz, The Art of Fermentation The vagina is self-cleaning. Please don't use products of any kind near your vulva, as you will damage the microbiome that keeps you healthy. (This goes for the rest of your body as well.) |
Sexuality
Sexuality isn't just about what happens between two people in a bedroom. It's about our fundamental, creative energy that we use in everything we do. This sexual energy is joyful, creative, playful, curious, innocent, wondrous, and generous. Our sexuality is a key part of who we are and how we express ourselves, and it houses a huge amount of our vulnerability and insecurities. By diving into these vulnerable, messy feelings rather than shutting them away, we can find ways to heal ourselves.
We usually conceive of sex as just being intimate, erotic sexuality, and this confines it to a very narrow territory, because that kind of sexuality is of course not appropriate in most situations. We dehumanize sex by having conversations at two ends of the spectrum--discussions about prevention, risks, and consent; and hypersexual conversations about kinky sex and how to have more sex. But this leaves out the opportunity for us to connect with how we actually feel about sex. By getting in touch with our fundamental energy, we are able to have an embodied sense of what resonates specifically with us and our uniqueness--not just erotically, but in choosing our careers, the people we spend time with, our partners, and our interests.
Most of this view on sexuality is taken from Sarah Byrden of The Elemental Self. Sarah is a MogaDao Sacred Daoist Sexuality teacher, experiential educator, and wilderness guide. I highly recommend you watch some of Sarah's talks at theelementalself.com/the-great-remembering and vimeo.com/user58868168.
We usually conceive of sex as just being intimate, erotic sexuality, and this confines it to a very narrow territory, because that kind of sexuality is of course not appropriate in most situations. We dehumanize sex by having conversations at two ends of the spectrum--discussions about prevention, risks, and consent; and hypersexual conversations about kinky sex and how to have more sex. But this leaves out the opportunity for us to connect with how we actually feel about sex. By getting in touch with our fundamental energy, we are able to have an embodied sense of what resonates specifically with us and our uniqueness--not just erotically, but in choosing our careers, the people we spend time with, our partners, and our interests.
Most of this view on sexuality is taken from Sarah Byrden of The Elemental Self. Sarah is a MogaDao Sacred Daoist Sexuality teacher, experiential educator, and wilderness guide. I highly recommend you watch some of Sarah's talks at theelementalself.com/the-great-remembering and vimeo.com/user58868168.
Female erectile network
Women have four separate but interconnected structures of erectile tissue: the clitoris (comprised of the head, shaft, and legs), the two vestibular bulbs under the lips on each side of the vaginal opening, a tubular sponge of erectile tissue around the urethra (above the roof of the vagina), and the perineal sponge between the vaginal and anal canals. (Women's Anatomy of Arousal, p. 104)
Erectile tissue as protection against infection
"The urethral sponge has several functions besides providing pleasure. It's there to protect the vulnerable urinary tract from invasion and infection. It does this in three ways. First, when properly puffed, it cushions the sensitive urethra from the mechanical battering and irritation of intercourse. Inflamed tissue is more vulnerable to infection. Second, when the sponge is engorged, it narrows the urethral opening, thereby decreasing the potential for invasion by microbes. Last but not least, the urethral sponge house the paraurethral glands, the source of female ejaculate. Although there is no scientific data about this, I believe the fluid is antimicrobial--there to prevent infections of the urinary system." (Women's Anatomy of Arousal, p. 115)
Women have four separate but interconnected structures of erectile tissue: the clitoris (comprised of the head, shaft, and legs), the two vestibular bulbs under the lips on each side of the vaginal opening, a tubular sponge of erectile tissue around the urethra (above the roof of the vagina), and the perineal sponge between the vaginal and anal canals. (Women's Anatomy of Arousal, p. 104)
Erectile tissue as protection against infection
"The urethral sponge has several functions besides providing pleasure. It's there to protect the vulnerable urinary tract from invasion and infection. It does this in three ways. First, when properly puffed, it cushions the sensitive urethra from the mechanical battering and irritation of intercourse. Inflamed tissue is more vulnerable to infection. Second, when the sponge is engorged, it narrows the urethral opening, thereby decreasing the potential for invasion by microbes. Last but not least, the urethral sponge house the paraurethral glands, the source of female ejaculate. Although there is no scientific data about this, I believe the fluid is antimicrobial--there to prevent infections of the urinary system." (Women's Anatomy of Arousal, p. 115)
Beneficial hormones produced during orgasmic plateau (not climax)
"Lots of us rush through the orgasmic plateau...But what if I told you that spending more time in the plateau stage can have a positive impact on your overall health?....Doing that will maximally build nitric oxide and oxytocin in the body; those are the hormones secreted by the pituitary gland that allow you to have all of these wonderful biohacking benefits. In the short term, nitric oxide reduces inflammation, boosts circulation, and protects cardiovascular health. In the long term, if you were to do just two sessions a week for a month, your next menstrual cycle should be very different. If you’re trying to conceive, working on irregular cycles, or struggling with PMS, all of those things will be affected."
"Lots of us rush through the orgasmic plateau...But what if I told you that spending more time in the plateau stage can have a positive impact on your overall health?....Doing that will maximally build nitric oxide and oxytocin in the body; those are the hormones secreted by the pituitary gland that allow you to have all of these wonderful biohacking benefits. In the short term, nitric oxide reduces inflammation, boosts circulation, and protects cardiovascular health. In the long term, if you were to do just two sessions a week for a month, your next menstrual cycle should be very different. If you’re trying to conceive, working on irregular cycles, or struggling with PMS, all of those things will be affected."
- "How to biohack your orgasm" by Alisa Vitti
Resources
- Her Blood Is Gold: Awakening to the Wisdom of Menstruation, by Lara Owen
- A New View of a Woman's Body, by The Federation of Women's Health Centers
- Our Bodies, Ourselves, by The Boston Women's Health Collective
- Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health, by Toni Weschler, MPH
- The Fifth Vital Sign
- The Period Repair Manual, Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods, by Lara Briden
- An Electronic Silent Spring: Facing the Dangers and Creating Safe Limits, by Katie Singer
- Women's Anatomy of Arousal: Secret Maps to Buried Pleasure, by Sheri Winston
- Grace of the Moon - Sarah Bly: Sexual Health and Fertility Awareness Education (Ashland, OR)
- Ashley Hartman Annis: Certified Fertility Awareness Educator (Madison, WI)
- The Elemental Self - Sarah Byrden: MogaDao Sacred Daoist Sexuality Teacher (Ashland, OR)
- Association of Fertility Awareness Professionals
Wanna chat? I'm not certified to teach this material, but I'm happy to share what I know and help you find other resources. Send me an email at [email protected] with your questions!