Holistic and Free Fertility

AKA Natural Birth Control Methods/Unassisted Birth control  and Conception Methods

This is a 2 part series and the second half, Natural Conception Methods is now up here!

Published July 4th, Updated July 5th

Natural (and unassisted) Birth Control Methods

If you’ve spent any time on my website, you know I write mainly on the topic of birth. Home birth specifically, but empowering, informed, safe, woman-centred birth in general!

But what if you’ve had a beautiful ecstatic freebirth and now you need to prevent pregnancy for a little while (or a long while)?

What’s an empowering, informed, safe, woman-centred method of birth control?

I believe Fertility Awareness methods are a holistic way to respect women’s health and natural functions while remaining in control of your pregnancy avoidance goals.

Other natural methods are also completely valid, and it’s up to you to decide if some, none, or all align with you and your values and needs at any point in time.

Not only do we wish for physiological birth with no side effects for mother and baby, so too the natural methods should respect physiology and have no long term effects for mother and or future babies.

“Unassisted Birth to me includes not just giving birth but also when you are trying to conceive a baby, or when you are trying to prevent a pregnancy.”

To make it onto this list, a method must be something you can do yourself AND be natural.

Some examples of things that don't fit this list are:

• IUDs (metal or hormonal, must be inserted by a Dr)

• Hormonal pills (can take yourself but need a prescription and they're unnatural)

• Sterilisation (surgery and side effects) (Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome support group)

(Please be aware that birth control does NOT regulate your hormones. They replace them. A period or lack of is because the synthetic hormones are stopping your natural functions and needed hormonal fluctuations. You can read Beyond The Pill for an in-depth look.

You can also listen to one of many podcasts on Fertility Friday)

The only method 100% guaranteed not to get you pregnant is abstinence. 

Every other method varies from 80-99.6% efficacy 

That means you must think about how much you do/do not want a baby, (intentions scale here) and choose accordingly. 

It also means that you need to take into account how you want to learn the natural method, and how many risks you want to take while learning it. You also need to decide how strongly you want to adhere to the rules.

Most FAM methods advocate for waiting and taking 3 cycles (each with confirmed ovulation) to practice charting before you have unprotected sex, especially if strongly TTA (trying to avoid - Full abbreviations list here). And you can choose to read up on or watch a video on the safest ways to use condoms as another example. Natural methods take responsibility but it can be worth it.

The natural methods are:

• Abstinence

• Non penetrative sex (avoiding ejaculations near female genitals)

• Pullout (Perfect Withdrawal rules not "Pull and Pray")  

• Male Condoms 

• Diaphragm (can be, or should be combined with spermicide) (popular brand is Caya + Contragel)

• Female condom

• Pregnancy (I tease but it's true, you can't get pregnant if you're already pregnant! ;) )

FAM short for Fertility Awareness (lots of options) 

These can also be collectively called “Natural family Planning”, but no one method is FAM or NFP. These are umbrella terms and cover all of these and more.

(So if someone has told you that they got pregnant on Natural Family Planning and right now you are questioning its efficacy or my decision to write a whole article on NFP, it’s wise to check with your friend what method they used and what rules they followed. 9/10 times they used Calendar/Rhythm, and didn’t even use the proper rules - definitely drastically lowering the efficacy rate. (Calendar rates in at 80% and the methods go all the way up to SymptoHormonal Double Check at 99.7% efficacy.)

These methods are effective and easily done at home.

• Sympto Thermal methods (most recommended) (overview)

• Sympto Hormonal

• Cervical Fluid only methods

• Hormone testing

• Calendar (also called Rhythm)

• Fertility App/Proprietary algorithm (using an app like Natural Cycles)

• Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) (rules )

• Choose the method that's right for you!

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Using the methods 

Using a barrier or abstinence method alone requires using it 100% of the time, and making sure to use each item properly, e.g. checking condoms after use for holes.

You can use natural/barrier methods (condoms/withdrawal/abstinence etc) with any of the Fertility Awareness methods listed above depending on the day and your intentions. You can also pair them up e.g. withdrawal while wearing a condom for higher efficacy.

Fertility awareness based methods (FAM/FABMs) rely on two important and non-negotiable  things.

Interpretation of Fertility Signals + Rules.

Fertility Signals are biomarkers that you can use to determine potential levels of fertility on any given day. 

Some of these include

• Period bleeding

• Cervical fluid

• LH surges (observed with "ovulation sticks")

• Cervical os (cervical opening)

• Basal Body Temperature (BBT)

You can also chart secondary signs such as

• Nipple tenderness

• Spotting

• Breakthrough bleeds

• Cramps

• Nausea 

• Libido

• Mood

• Progesterone levels

• Mittelschmerz (ovulation pain)

(But these are not counted as official markers, only as helpful or interesting)

You can observe these Fertility Signals in different ways

• Thermometer

• Visual

• Tests

• Ultrasounds

• fingers/feel

• Observation of your body

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Rules

Rules decide levels of "safety" when avoiding pregnancy based on your bio markers.

These rules are unique to each method and each biomarker. You interpret your data based on a set of rules that have been scientifically determined according to the method you choose.

Some examples of named rules within a method

• Doering Day

• Single check

• Double check

• 3 days past peak

• Monitor reading “PPHLL”  

Rules also dictate HOW and When to observe your fertility markers, like:

• What time of day

• What biomarkers are used with a particular method

• How much sleep you need for a thermometer reading

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You MUST follow the rules of your chosen method to avoid pregnancy. You cannot assume you are safe for unprotected sex based on an app prediction. 

And remember, you don't get a free pass for being drunk or, well, “in the mood”. Biology doesn't pause just because you forgot to put on a condom or check your fertility signs that day. When in doubt...don’t. Sorry!

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How the methods work

Natural methods work in one main way to prevent pregnancy, but they do it slightly differently 

• Preventing the sperm reaching the egg physically (condom, etc)

• Prevent the egg and sperm meeting (abstinence)

• Prevent the sperm getting to the egg (spermicide, withdrawal)

• Prevent sperm from being near the egg when the egg is present (fertility awareness)

Unnatural methods work on the female body

• To prevent the egg from existing (suppress ovulation)

• Prevent the egg from implanting (hostile womb)

• Prevent the sperm from getting to the egg (infertile cervical fluid)

• None of these methods that mess with natural functions are healthy for your body to do long term (or short term either).

Female Cycle

Fertility Awareness is a great method to utilise because you are not working against your body. Instead you are learning to read it.

Some facts:

• Ovulation is the central moment of a woman's cycle

• When a woman ovulates, she releases 1-2 eggs within 24hrs only. 

• If sperm do not meet the egg, you will not get pregnant. 

• After ovulation, 10-16 days later you will get a period.

• Most cycles are between 25-35 days from first day of bleeding until bleeding starts again.

• Male sperm lives approximately 5 days only

• Identifying when you ovulate by bio markers will help you avoid the 5 days before ovulation and the day after as a buffer.

• Most rules add on a couple extra days to be safe and allow for natural variations in a woman's cycle.

• Identifying the fertile days is the main task of Fertility Awareness methods. 

• Once you know what days you will be, or are, fertile, you can make decisions about what barrier or abstinence method you will use.

• You can learn more about the female cycle and answers to common questions like “Can women ovulate more than once per cycle?” at the awesome Fertility Friday podcast

Why you might choose natural methods

• Knowing your body

• Natural 

• Partner Involvement 

• Not needing doctors

• Reduce condom use

• Use for TTC as well

• Doesn't affect future fertility 

Why you might not

• Takes time to learn

• Takes time every day to record your data

• It can feel like a responsibility 

• Cost (of monitors, thermometers, instructors etc)

• Less unprotected sex than HBC

• Limited sex if choosing abstinence and having long cycles

Mitigating the reasons against (you can motivate yourself to get past obstacles)

• Self teach instead of instructors 

• Cheap thermometer instead of Tempdrop 

• Use cervical mucus methods that require no equipment

• Use free apps to chart biomarker data

• Join support groups on Facebook 

• Remind yourself of the benefits of a healthy cycle

FAM for TTC

You can seamlessly switch from avoiding pregnancy to trying to conceive. It takes you no extra learning, and can get you months ahead with health knowledge. Standard is you can see a Dr after one year of trying, OR 6 months of trying with Fertility Awareness. AND you will know if you actually ovulate, what days to test hormone levels, and whether you have healthy progesterone levels before you ever set foot in a Drs office!

Full article coming later!

Fertility Awareness for Men

Your partner can be involved in helping you chart your biomarkers, learning the rules, and interpreting your cycle. He can also take primary responsibility for withdrawing or wearing a condom. Not all men want to be involved, but it is an option. Some partner opinions here.

App Suggestions (turn off Predictions)

- Kindara (free mode)

- Ovia (free mode)

- Read Your Body (pay monthly fee)

Thermometer 

• Tempdrop (expensive) (purchase online)

• Surgipack (cheap) (purchase instore or online from Chemist Warehouse)

Other FAQs all covered on this great site:

https://fertilityawarenessmethodofbirthcontrol.com/faqs/ 

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Another overview:
https://medium.com/@niastevens/affordable-natural-birth-control-works-as-well-as-the-pill

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Aussie help/instructor hire:

https://fertilitycharting.com.au/ 

Cycle Health

These FAM methods also give you a huge insight into your health. Your cycle is sometimes called "the Fifth Vital Sign" (look up the book if interested)

There is also a great book by an Aussie, Lara Briden called Period Repair manual which I recommend if you ever have any pain or irregularities or heavy bleeding. This one is in some libraries too.

You made it to the end! Getting started!​

For a more in depth and complete Sympto Thermal Method, and to get you started please 

- read the book Taking Charge Of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler

- Download the Kindara app

- and join this Facebook Group via their helpful website https://fertilityawarenessmethodofbirthcontrol.com 

All the best in your holistic and free fertility journey and I hope that all your fertility and feminine health goals are easy for you to understand and achieve!