'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

Used persona for a few months Jan-June. I'm due in March! As long as you'd be ready to be pregnant then it's good for spacing out a bit more. Persona's really expensive though, not sure it's any better than temping or following toni wechsler's book (which I never got round to reading).

So in your opinion what is NFP, if abstaining during your fertile period isn't NFP?

Well NFP is also known as FAM (fertility awareness method) which takes the "natural" out of it.

Perhaps I follow that method as I would be one of the people using condoms on red days if the mood happened to strike us on one of those days (much more likely too as female libido often peaks during ovulation). Condoms to me are much more "natural" than exogenous hormones messing up my system.

Oooh as as aside- interesting new scientist article found that people using NFP/FAM for religious reasons- may actually be causing more embryo death than other methods: explained
here

which is just me trying to change the subject because I don't like it when things get heated- but then again I have just posted something controversial- Thandeka tiptoes away

That article is very true .
It has long been acknowledged that up to 50% of all pregnancies end in natural abortion. Often before the women are aware of the pregnancy.
When I was TTC my 1st DC I had one late ( by about 10 days) and unusually heavy period and am sure it may well have been an early miscarriage.

I ovulated immediately after i stopped taking the pill and fell pregnant straight away,my ds is now 6. However my dh and i have used no contraception for nearly 5 years and i have not fallen pregnant in that time. I know when i ovulate and always write on the calendar when my periods come, to be honest i love it and it works for us, you really have to get to know your cycle and be extra careful on ovulation days. Good luck

thanks marmon - some great advice from lots of posters, thanks for all the info.

I also have another question, for those who are clearly a bit more clued up about this sort of stuff... if you dont ovulate while you're on the pill, what happens to your eggs? I was under the impression that you had all the eggs stored that you would ever need anyway, and they just get released each month. so if you dont release any for a while, does that mean you have more banked up, IYSWIM? I've always wondered this but not known who to ask.

Bear in mind that the hormones from the pill don't linger in your body, and can be 'cleared' within 48 hours so theoretically you can get pregnant immediately.

Also if you are crap at remembering to take a pill then FAM in it's purest sense may not be for you - you have to take your temperature at the same time each day (usually before getting out of bed) and quite closely monitor other signs such as cervical mucous, nipple changes, etc.

Many women that use 'natural' family planning don't use it in it's purest form, they modify it to suit their lifestyle. So they may use a monitor such as a Persona and then use condoms during their predicted fertile period. Pure NFP/FAM is quite involved, certainly at the start, and takes a level of commitment many couples don't have the time or inclination for!

Re your eggs; I have C&Pd this as it explains it quite well:

A baby girl is born with egg cells (oocytes) in her ovaries. Between 16 and 20 weeks of pregnancy, the ovaries of a female fetus contain 6 to 7 million oocytes. Most of the oocytes gradually waste away, leaving about 1 to 2 million present at birth. None develop after birth. At puberty, only about 300,000?more than enough for a lifetime of fertility?remain. Only a small percentage of oocytes mature into eggs. The many thousands of oocytes that do not mature degenerate. Degeneration progresses more rapidly in the 10 to 15 years before menopause. All are gone by menopause.

Only about 400 eggs are released during a woman's reproductive life, usually one during each menstrual cycle. Until released, an egg remains dormant in its follicle-suspended in the middle of a cell division. Thus, the egg is one of the longest-lived cells in the body. Because a dormant egg cannot perform the usual cellular repair processes, the opportunity for damage increases as a woman ages. A chromosomal or genetic abnormality is thus more likely when a woman conceives a baby later in life.

PS the implant hasn't been pulled and is actually being promoted quite heavily as a long acting contraceptive. Most GPs don't offer it as they can't fit it but should point you in the direction of a FPC which can.

actually it depends on your pill but you may still ovulate while on the pill but the hormones in the pill makes your cervix inhospitable to sperm and your womb lining inhospitable for implantation of a fertilised egg.

What Sidge says is a fab overview but I would also add that every month around 40-50 follicles start developing but all of them bar one (and rarely two) will become atretic and die during the development process- only one egg will ever be ovulated from a dominant follicle. What causes the "biggest and best" to survive while the rest die is still under investigation in the reproductive physiolgy world.

In terms of being on the pill and storing eggs- I'm not sure but I suspect that the follicular development process will still happen (ie. 40-50 eggs start to develop each month but almost all die) but because there is no surge in FSH because of the hormone ratios when on the pill then this will disrupt the release of an egg from the follicle but I probably need to look up my old uni notes to see. (my degree was more animal reproductive physiology- could tell you all sorts of exciting things about bull semen but not so much about the effects of the pill on humans!)

You lot really know your stuff, I'm impressed!

I'm starting to worry slightly though... I thought it would be at least a few weeks before ovulating but DP and I havent used protection twice since i stopped taking the pill, both times within the first 7-10 days. I assumed it'd be safe.

oh well, fingers crossed I get my period sometime soon then I can start charting properly. Book still hasn't arrived though

Actually, just checked my iphone fertility monitor app and if i count from first day of last (unnatural) period it was on CD4 and CD11. I can't imagine everything will have bounced back that quickly though, I havent even felt PMT-y at all.

Agh.

Cheese - I would assume from now on that everyday is a red day until you get to know your cycle, as some have mentioned you can get pg pretty quickly after you stop the pill. On the flip side, and not meant to worry you, it took me 6 months to have a period when I stopped the pill when ttc dd. I spent a fortune on opk's and hpt's in that time when in fact if I'd learnt my fertility signs could have saved some money and stress.

It sounds like your well prepared for ttc and nfp (whatever that may be?), good luck.

I use fam and have done for some time - that is, I chart my cycle carefully with temps and fluid signs, and when in a relationship I either use condoms or stick to non-penetrative stuff during the fertile period; withdrawal or nothing at all during infertile times depending on when exactly (usually withdrawal at the very beginning of the cycle, nothing at all once ovulation is confirmed). I have very irregular cycles, with ovulation wandering around between days 13 and 35ish and have nevertheless had no major problems tracking it, in fact it's been incredibly useful knowing when my period will arrive (which was otherwise a mystery with those cycles as you can imagine!).

Definitely get the Weschler book - the only thing I would say about it is that I think she does underestimate the extent to which your hormones can take control in the run up to ovulation and how hard it can be to resist - especially if you've been on the combined pill for ages and haven't felt the effects of the natural cycle for a while. So definitely agree to use condoms in that time, and also be careful - you may catch yourself 'convincing' yourself it's safe when it isn't around that time, however much you consciously don't yet want a baby. I have even found myself misremembering my chart in the heat of the moment, although in general I have an excellent grasp of it!

In any case, you should use a barrier method at all times for the first couple of cycles as it takes a while to get the hang of all the signs. Some studies suggest that some women may actually be more fertile than normal in the very first cycle off the pill so you should definitely be careful already.

I think it's a really great technique, very flexible and reliable too if you know what you are doing (and are honest with yourself and your partner about your own reliability!). I also really enjoy understanding and appreciating the natural changes in energy, libido etc during the cycle and can't imagine being permanently in an artificially-induced version of the most boring bit, as you are on the pill! Good luck with it.

Thanks arionater, that's really helpful. I think that's a good point about 'convincing myself', as I would really love to get pregnant now, but - with my sensible head on - it's really not a good time for us. I'm being made redundant at Christmas (happy Christmas! ) and I'm thinking about changing career, so it really wouldn't be good timing. Not insurmountable though if it did happen; as a couple we're ready... it's just circumstances that are the problem!

I used persona as contraceptive for 1.5 years before I used it to help me get pregnant.
My period came back about 8 weeks after giving birth though I b/f exclusively for 6 months and continued to feed until ds was 1y/o so I started using persona again about 2-3 months ago and it doesn't feel as reliable as it did before.
We want another dc at some point and have left enough of a gap now so it wouldn't be disastrous but I'm not sure that persona is doing all the things it's meant to.

NB thanks to whoever gave the tip about buying test sticks off ebay - are they cheaper than buying in bulk at access diagnostics (another Mumsnet tip )?