Does it work? It depends...
Fertility awareness, also known as natural family planning, is an unforgiving method. But those fails are not generally random bolts from the blue.
So long as you use the right fertility awareness method consistently and correctly it can be up to 99% effective.
The right method doesn't mean a period tracking app, no matter how slick it looks, or just avoiding unprotected sex for three or four days a month.
It means recording a combination of fertility indicators, mainly waking temperature, vaginal fluid and cycle length, and interpreting them correctly.
Correct use doesn't mean recording every last bit of information. There's a limit to how much you need.
A few missed temperatures don't generally matter, it's not like missing a few contraceptive pills, and it's only a few days a month that you need to look out for fluid when you use the bathroom (no internal checks required).
It is essential that you use condoms or other precautions for at least 11 days a cycle. It will be more than this if you're learning, or have a disrupted cycle because of illness, travel or something else.
NHS advice is to get support and learn to interpret your data. It might work if you learn on your own, but it's less likely. Unfortunately this support isn’t always funded by the NHS.
Check the Fertility UK practitioner list to see if you're covered. If not there’s several practitioners, including me, who provide support by Zoom and have a sliding scale.
So long as you use the right fertility awareness method consistently and correctly it can be up to 99% effective.
The right method doesn't mean a period tracking app, no matter how slick it looks, or just avoiding unprotected sex for three or four days a month.
It means recording a combination of fertility indicators, mainly waking temperature, vaginal fluid and cycle length, and interpreting them correctly.
Correct use doesn't mean recording every last bit of information. There's a limit to how much you need.
A few missed temperatures don't generally matter, it's not like missing a few contraceptive pills, and it's only a few days a month that you need to look out for fluid when you use the bathroom (no internal checks required).
It is essential that you use condoms or other precautions for at least 11 days a cycle. It will be more than this if you're learning, or have a disrupted cycle because of illness, travel or something else.
NHS advice is to get support and learn to interpret your data. It might work if you learn on your own, but it's less likely. Unfortunately this support isn’t always funded by the NHS.
Check the Fertility UK practitioner list to see if you're covered. If not there’s several practitioners, including me, who provide support by Zoom and have a sliding scale.