'Natural Family Planning' - how reliable? And any tips?

[CheeeseOnToast]

hi there

After many years of the Pill and never finding anything that suited me, can't use an IUD and think the implant's now been pulled, DP and I have decided on using the Natural Family Planning method.

I know this isn't quite as reliable as other methods (pill when taken correctly etc) but feel this is much better for us as a couple. I get into rages on the pill and spend most of my time like this: Also a baby wouldn't be the end of the world, although we dont want to not use anything as feel that would be tempting things a bit too much.

I've ordered the Toni Weschler book about Understanding Your Fertility (I've seen it recommended on here) and so I'll be following that, and plan to get a basal thermometer so I can track temp changes. Will also be watching out for, ahem, cervical mucas changes and will ensure we use condoms on and around those days that ovulation looks likely.

Has anyone used this method successfully? Is there anything else I should consider?

I'm aware that after ten years on the pill () by body will probably not start to ovulate again straight away, so is it best to just use condoms until i can see and track my natural cycle?

Thanks

You are braver than me!

But then again a baby would be the end of the world for us.

I am on the implant and DH uses condoms too so there is no chance of getting pg.

Will watch this with interest!

allow me to introduce you to my six surviving siblings as living embodiments of natural family planning

ah...not looking good so far!!

my decision was influenced by the fact that I'm also quite rubbish at remembering to take my pill, and I have never once got pregnant (never 'tried', but never even happened as an accident) and I think I'm getting paranoid about my own fertility. I'm only 27 so appreciate that's young but I dont even remember how regular my periods were before, what my cycle was like etc, and I want to get a better understanding of my body.

Also I feel DP should take more responsibility in this (condoms, and helping me chart etc), as it's always ever been down to me. This way he's more involved. And i think that's only fair!

And thanks for replies btw

I'm 25 and considering this too but its a risk as I don't want another baby but am sick of feeling ill and being horrid because of hormonal contraceptives.

My dh and I tried it as a method of contraception in the build up to ttc #2, so like you say if I had got pg earlier than planned it wasn't a major issue for us.

It was successful for us as I didn't get pg during the 4-5 months we trialed it. Not a long study I know, but I did get to know my cycle very well. I thought I had the day of ovulation pinned down as I could feel it and through monitoring cm changes.

This info was also extremely useful when we began ttc and I got pg within the first month. Therefore was pretty convinced of when we concieved and that my edd was correct. On 12 week dating scan I was 5 days out , don't know if this has any relevance to natural family planning but it made me doubt how acurately I know my cycle.

Don't know if thats useful advice or not, but its a method only to be tried if babies aren't going to be the end of the world.

PS. I too find the pill and hormone injection don't agree with me, I never went back on after having dd and used condoms as our only contraception when we definately didn't want a second baby.

We've used it successfully for the last 12 years and have 2 planned DCs in that time. My ovulation is very regular and has very obvious signs, we just avoid penetration for the week this occurs.

Great info everybody, thanks. Lionstar and Hollyoaks, did you do anything other than monitor CM, take temp and chart? Is this all I need to do? Apart from either abstaining or using barrier method when required?

I just monitored cm and recognised pain from ovulation. I also had a regular cycle length which helped. however, I only did it for a short time so better off waiting for lionstar.

I used it sucessfully not to get pregnant for three years then to get pregnant recently. I used a combination of persona, temping, mucus checking and cervix positioning. Once you get hang of fertility cues is dead easy. I have irregular ovulation (between day 15 and day 24!) so we always used to be much more careful in "relatively infertile period" ( before ovulation) and then relax in "absolute infertile period" (3days post ovulation to your next period). Around ovulation we would use condoms and pre ov would use withdrawal (which a recent study has found to be 98% effective if male is controlled!)- you can also go to free individual classes on nfp through your family planning clinic- google fertiltyuk.org I think to find a local teacher. Also when done properly this method has a good sucess rate- 97% but often people confuse it with the rythm or calendar method which isn't very accurate at all- the more cues you use and the more rigorous you are with it the more effective it is. Good luck!

Oh it's very reliable indeed if done properly. I am lucky to have a very predictable body and very obvious fertile signs coupled with being able to feel ovulation. I am extra careful and use condoms an extra day either side of the fertile window just to be safe.

We absolutely do not want more children and have used Natural Family Planning for 2 and a half years without incident.

Toni Weschler's book is brilliant.

Oh and I ovulated 14 days after coming of the pill and went straight into a 28 day cycle. That was 9yrs of continuous pills too.

I only used temping when we first started so that I could work out my signs. Cervical mucus is my first sign and the start of the careful period. This is usually followed by obvious ovulation pain - we wait around 4 days after the pain has gone.

I would reccomend using all the techniques as mentioned before until you have a very good idea what your body is up to.

Good luck

Me and my DH tried this when we didn't feel quite ready to have kids but knew it wouldn't matter if it did happen.

Because of that i didn't use any of the other ways of checking fertility, we just avoided penetration (or used a condom)on 6 days of the month (most fertile, obv), used withdrawl on the 3 days either side of that and went ahead on all the other days. (It was like a traffic light system - red, amber and green days) but we were not always strict with it...

It worked for a year even though we both seem to be pretty fertile (currently pg with non id twins, 2 months after coming off pill) and i remember the month before i fell pg, my in laws saying "you know what they call people who use natural family planning, don't you? - PARENTS.

I think the best advice i could give is go ahead but the more you don't want to get pg, the more strict you should be with it and do more fertility checking.

We do it (without temping as it's tricky to do temping if you have children don't have a good night's undisturbed sleep) and it's worked fine for us. But admittedly (a) I don't think we are super-fertile anyway (b) I have very very very regular cycles (c) another child wouldn't be a disaster.

Thandeka - that's really useful information, thanks, didn't know i could get a class, I'll have a look at the link you suggested

Showofhands, really reassuring that you started ovulating prety much straight away after being on the pill for 9 years. DP and I will almost certainly be TTC from next Jan, so I want to be sure I'm 'up and running'!

I've just looked at a persona site - is the system much different to ovulation sticks I've seen in Boots? I was thinking of getting some of those, so I can be absolutely sure in the first couple of months while i'm still getting used to my body's cues. Are they more or less the same? Why is the persona more expensive?

Thanks everyone for your help, I'm so glad I started this thread, I feel much more in control already. Hopefully my book will arrive today and I can get stuck in tonight.

The Persona "learns" your cycle, so it gets used to when you normally ovulate, what your normal hormone levels are, etc. This should mean that (after the first 2-3 months, when it is likely to just tell you and your DP to stay the heck away from each other) it is more accurate at reading any individual cycle and predicting fertile days. What constitutes a positive on an ovulation test varies from woman to woman and if you want to be sure of how your cycle works it generally takes a couple of cycles of your learning how it works for you anyway (e.g. do you get a faint line in the completely non-fertile bit of your cycle or not? how many days of the line getting gradually darker do you typically have before ovulation? what's your normal reading on the test the day after ovulation?)

You can't use Persona when breastfeeding, though, which means it's not so much cop for NFP between children.

I am amused by some posts on this thread- many of you are saying you use condoms on some days of the month and abstain etc on others. That's not really natural family planning is it?

In reality, there is no really "safe period"- those of you who have escaped pregnancy for 2 years or more may have done so for various reasons- such as low(er) fertility, not enough sex, etc etc. The conception rate for 100 couples not using any contraception ( and trying to conceive is about 20%- so one couple getting away with "safe periods" for a couple of years does not give a true picture).

My DD now 21 was conceived around day 8 of my usual 30+ day cycle. Too early we thought, but were proved wrong.

You can never predict when you might have an irregular cycle, and ovulate much earlier or later and sperm can live for several days.

Natural methods are fine- and by that I 'd mean totally natural with no condoms mid-cycle etc- if you are happy to limit sex to maybe one week a month, or end up pregnant!

I brought my persona on ebay secondhand for £30 and have had no bother with it. Also test sticks are cheap on ebay too.

Even with my irregular ov it coped reasonably well although occasionally because I was using other cues I would trust them more than persona particularly if I knew I was having a particularly late ov- as once persona went green for me when I knew it should have been red! But I think it is definitely a useful tool but the most important thing is really knowing and understanding your body and not just following persona blindly even when your instinct is telling you otherwise (my best mate is currently 20 weeks pregnant after ignoring her instincts with persona!).

I guess I am lucky in that I have a degree in with a first for reproductive physiology so this stuff is relatively straightforward for me- plus I don't think I am uber fertile- still took me 6months to get pregnant when actively trying and defo catching the egg. (obviously that is fertile but stats wise I am not a blink and get pregnant kinda gal)

Oh and here is a list of NHS NFP teachers divided by area www.fertilityuk.org/ukpractitionersearch.htm

Surely the biggest drawback of natural family planning is that abstinence is the only option when you are fertile?

If you don't like hormones or barrier methods, or the coil, then why not use condoms? Are they unaccpetable?

Personally, I find them off putting, but if i felt randy I'd rather use them than abstain!

purplepeony, you seem to have missed the key point to the Fertility Awareness Method. The idea is that you learn your body's cues, you know how it behaves on certain days leading up to ovulation, what happens to your body when you ovulate and in the days afterwards. Of course you can conceive through sex on day 8 or 18 or 28. It's not about abstaining on the same set days every month (the rhythm method), it's about abstaining on the days you know you are fertile. This is what makes it reliable.

You don't need to limit sex to one day a month. Not that it's any of your business really but of course we have regular sex, sometimes daily and I am fertile (two planned pregnancies, though sadly only one child). It is not chance that stops me being pg.

And people using condoms during their fertile period is nit picking really. It's like a BLW purist saying you can't use a spoon. It just shows the adaptability of Fertility Awareness. It's about knowing your body's natural cycle and using the knowledge to avoid conception (or achieve it) instead of relying on something unnatural that interferes with this system like a hormonal contraception.

SOH- oooooh you sound angry!
Why?
If you post here on NFP etc then how often you have sex is an issue that is relevant.

""And people using condoms during their fertile period is nit picking really.""

Lol! Condoms are contraception they are not natural methods.

I haven't missed the point at all, I'm afraid. I fully understand what NFP is and as I am post meno , with 2 wanted DCs, I have no axe to grind, just lots of life experience.

Natural to my mind means no contraception- condoms are contraception, whether used for 1 day or a week.

What I am saying is that to 1) abstain ( and I did not say you should only have sex 1 day a month) or 2) use condoms occasionally, then this is not NFP.