Blog - Be Fertility Aware

Does it work? It depends on the method...

27/9/2020

Using fertility awareness as contraception can feel scary if you've ever heard it fails 1 in 4 women with typical use (25%).

That figure is unhelpful as it lumps together all the different fertility awareness methods - some of them are better than others.

The new Guttmacher failure rate is more helpful because it gives a range of figures, depending on the method used. It ranges from 2% to 34% with typical use.

Zombies and Zoom

15/4/2020

Feeling prepared for the zombie apocalypse used to be one of the things I liked about the fertility awareness method of contraception (FAM).

And here we are – no zombies, but a pretty apocalyptic situation.

Not a great time for popping to the GP or pharmacy for pill supplies, or getting a contraceptive injection or implant.

So how is FAM holding up? Well if you're an established user you're probably fine.

Do you need to bleed?

22/7/2019

Do you need periods, or are they “God’s design flaw” as a senior health professional said in a recent Guardian article?

If you mean a pill withdrawal bleed, I agree they are pretty pointless. They were originally introduced as a marketing gimmick, to help women feel better about taking the pill. FSRH guidance states there are "no health benefits" to pill withdrawal bleeds.

It's a bit more complicated if you mean a true period, the bleed you get after ovulation.

How many red days can you expect?

19/7/2019

We used to be told we could get pregnant on any day of our cycle, which was pretty alarming if you took a chance and didn't get pregnant.

Now we know better, you might think using fertility awareness as contraception means you only need to use condoms or other precautions for a few days each month.

Unfortunately that's not how it works. Even with loads of data about your cycles, and very regular periods, you need buffer days to allow for things changing from month to month.

How to avoid period pain, maybe

6/2/2019

Period pain can seem inevitable, “a common and normal part of your menstrual cycle” as the NHS website says.

I used take a few ibuprofen a month and get on with my life. Then I came across Lara Briden's revolutionary idea that periods are not meant to be painful.

This sounded too good to be true, but I was curious so I bought her book anyway -

Fixing Period Problems with Lara Briden (Book Review)

4/12/2018

Using fertility awareness as contraception means having periods - true periods, not the withdrawal bleeds you get on the pill.

This can be a mixed blessing.

If all goes well, they can be reassuring. A great indicator of overall health and fertility, and a handy way to confirm that we’re not pregnant.

However some women have absent periods, heavy periods, period pain, PMS, acne, breast pain, PCOS, irregular bleeding, endometriosis, fibroids...

It’s not exactly the stuff to fill you with joy about your natural hormones.

The Contraceptive Pill: How Safe Is It? BBC Horizon (Review)

26/11/2018

I was nervous about this programme. A doctor, on the BBC, talking about pill safety - it’s bound to dismiss women’s concerns, isn’t it?

So I was pleasantly surprised when there was no lecture telling all women they should

How much data do you really need?

1/11/2018

Using fertility awareness as contraception can seem like lots of work.

Record every day of your period, every waking temperature, every scrap of fluid.

Wake up at the same time every single day. Never drink alcohol, or get sick, or travel, or get stressed.

Who can handle that?

Fortunately there's a limit to how much data you

Feeling judged for using fertility awareness as contraception?

19/9/2018

2 Comments

Using fertility awareness as contraception can mean you feel endlessly judged.

You might have noticed this in some of the recent press coverage of the contraception app Natural Cycles - which is based on elements of fertility awareness.

Apparently anyone who relies on Natural Cycles, or fertility awareness, is either

2 Comments

A better way to judge fertility awareness and the need for a better app (letter to BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health)

28/8/2018

In their article about the Natural Cycles app, Hough et al quote a Cochrane Review that dismisses fertility awareness based contraception (natural family planning).

A Cochrane Review is an understandable choice but not an appropriate one. It would be more

Natalia's story

20/4/2018

Myself and my partner tried natural contraception with one of the high-street apps for nearly a year before we realised that following the app’s algorithm is something we can’t get used to and will never trust.

We wanted to understand the rhythm of female cycles, and support our intimate choices with proven studies and knowledge.

We had seen lots of doctors and nurses. It was off-putting how much rejection we faced. I asked

Does fertility awareness work as contraception?

4/4/2018

Fertility awareness has a terrible reputation. Never mind the Rhythm Method jokes - what about the statistics?

According to one very reputable source, the typical effectiveness rate for fertility awareness based contraception is only 76%.

That means it fails one in four women.

If we can fly robots to Mars...

9/3/2017

I loved the start of this film from the Victoria Derbyshire programme. At last, women with terrible experiences with hormonal contraception getting a hearing!

Of course it would be even better if women didn’t have a horrific time with side effects – or get “laughed out of the room” if they ask for help with the diaphragm – but at least they were being listened to.

Does the pill cause depression?

28/10/2016

Did you hear about this study linking hormonal contraception to an increased risk of being diagnosed with depression?

Did you dismiss it? “Old news, we’ve known about that forever”, “It was an association, not a causal link. Nothing needs to change here.”

Or did you feel relieved, and maybe angry? At last some research to confirm what you or yours have been going through?

Handling your fertile days...

7/10/2016

If you want to use fertility awareness to avoid pregnancy, you and your partner need to be happy with how you handle your fertile days.

That generally means about ten days a month when you use condoms or other precautions.

It's only possible to get pregnant for about six days but your fertile time can change so you add some extra days, especially while you're learning.

This might be no big deal, especially if you're already using

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