What is the Fertility Awareness Method?

Is this the rhythm method?

How does it work?

How effective is it?

Is it difficult to do?

Why haven’t I heard about this before?

Can I learn FAM from a book, or a website?

Can I use this method if I am nursing?
What if I have just come off the Pill or other hormone-based methods of birth control?

Can this method help me get pregnant?

Will this method protect me from sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s)?

What is Fertility Awareness Method?
Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) is a body of knowledge by which a woman can know exactly when she is fertile and when she is not. With this knowledge, she can avoid pregnancy absolutely naturally, simply by not having unprotected intercourse when she fertile. She can also use this information to help her achieve pregnancy, and to gain insight into her health.

Is this the rhythm method?

NOOOOOOOO!!!! The "rhythm" method, also known as the calendar method, was developed in the 1930’s and is still used by many people today. It is highly unreliable and often leads to unintended pregnancies. The reason it so often fails is because it uses a woman’s past cycles to predict her future fertility. That is like saying, well, yesterday there were no cars in the road at 8:10 AM, so it must be safe for me to cross at 8:10 AM today without looking out for cars. Even for women who have very regular cycles, every cycle is different, and fertility must be assessed on a daily basis.

How does it work?

With The Fertility Awareness Method, a woman carefully observes 2 or 3 primary fertility signs. By noting these signs daily on a chart, she can then interpret these signs to know when she is fertile. The 3 primary fertility signs are basal body temperature (taken first thing in the morning), cervical fluid (sometimes called mucus, observed throughout the day) and the cervix (optional)

Most women will find that they are fertile for about 1/3 of their cycle (about 8-10 days on average). If a couple wishes to avoid pregnancy, they may choose to use a barrier method during those days, or, for maximum effectiveness, they may choose not to have any genital-to-genital contact during the fertile window and instead use that period of time for creative explorations of sexuality and intimacy. Of course, if they wish to achieve pregnancy, they can simply do the opposite, i.e. have intercourse during the fertile window.

How effective is it?
Very. FAM is as effective as all other methods of contraception where the user controls the effectiveness. This is an important concept. Studies of the effectiveness of birth control generally present 2 statistics. One is the "perfect use" rate, meaning the effectiveness of the method when it is used all the time, without error. The other is the "typical use" rate, referring to the effectiveness in a general population that is not always using the method perfectly, or at all. FAM has a "perfect use" rate of about 97-99%, meaning that of 100 couples using the method perfectly for 1 year, 1-3 will experience an unplanned pregnancy. This is nearly as effective as the Pill. It has a "typical use" rate of about 80%, meaning that approximately 20 couples will experience an unplanned pregnancy. This may seem high, but it is the same rate as that of the diaphragm, condom, etc, all methods where the user controls the effectiveness. This is because people don’t always use their method correctly. The condom falls off, or they don’t use the diaphragm because she left it at her house, or, in the case of FAM, they take a chance when they know they’re fertile. The effectiveness of FAM is up to you. If you take the time to learn it correctly, and agree with your partner that you will use it conscientiously, you are highly unlikely to get pregnant unless you choose to.

Is it difficult to do?
No, though you do have to invest some time in learning it. Once learned, the method becomes a natural part of your day that takes only a few minutes.

Why haven’t I heard about this before? Why didn’t my gynecologist offer it to me?

There are several reasons, many having to do with money. There is very little money to be made from FAM. Once you have obtained the knowledge, there are really no further costs, unless you choose to use barrier methods during your fertile times or for std protection. No pills to buy, no condoms, no spermicide, no nothing. The thermometer will last you for many years unless you lose it. Blank charts can be run off on a copy machine.

Compare this to the profits made from the sale of artificial birth control, and you can see why no one is pushing this method on you at your doctor’s office. There is no sales rep taking your doctor out to lunch or leaving samples at the office. There are no ads in women’s magazines. There is no profit in it.

Another reason your doctor isn’t offering you this method has to do with the way medical care is dispensed in our culture, which, again, has to do with money. It can take 6-10 hours to learn FAM. How much time does your doctor spend with you? How could s/he teach you this method? If you’re lucky, your doctor will know enough to tell you about the method and refer you to someone who can teach you. This rarely happens. Most often, doctors are unfamiliar with the method. Incredibly, they still incorrectly associate FAM with rhythm. They still tell women things like "you’re safe up till day 10 and after day 17" when the fact is that you may enter your fertile period in the first few days of your cycle, or you may not enter it until the 4th week of your cycle. No one can tell you when you are fertile, but you can easily figure it out by observing and charting your fertility signs.

Lastly, we live in a very repressed culture that does not encourage us to know much about our bodies or to share that knowledge with others. Most of us do not get to have open dialogues with our parents about our bodies and we do not receive accurate, unbiased information in our schools. We trust doctors to take care of our bodies and disbelieve that we can take care of natural functions like birth, and birth control, without them. FAM requires you to deal openly and honestly with the functioning of your body and in return puts you solidly in control of your fertility. Most students find it a revelatory experience and are amazed that no one gave them this basic information before. It is your right to know how your body works.

Can I learn FAM from a book, or a website?
There are basically 3 ways to learn to the methodology of Fertility Awareness: from a secular teacher, from a teacher working within a religious context, or on your own. The best way is from a live teacher, in a class or workshop setting. While the method is not terribly difficult to learn, it must be learned accurately and thoroughly. It is said that the Fertility Awareness Method is unforgiving. When used correctly, it is extremely effective. If you make a mistake, however, that means that you may be having unprotected intercourse on a day when you are fertile, and thus risking pregnancy. In a workshop, you can ask questions, you can practice charting, and you get individual follow-up which a book or website cannot provide. Moreover, learning with others, sharing your concerns and doubts, may give you the confidence you need to abandon artificial birth control. For some of us, it’s a big leap. If you have the option, learn it from an experienced teacher. You can look for a teacher in your area by contacting the Fertility Awareness Network.

Unfortunately, secular teachers of FAM are few and far between. In most parts of the country, your only option for a workshop or class will be with a Natural Family Planning (NFP) organization. NFP and Fertility Awareness are similar, but also distinctly different. NFP was developed by Catholics and is informed by Catholic values and beliefs. NFP is not thought of as contraception but as a way to space children. Two major differences between FAM and NFP are that NFP insists on "abstinence" during the fertile period and instruction is sometimes only offered to married or engaged couples. Moreover, whereas a secular teacher may speak in terms of self-reliance, health, and sexuality, a Catholic teacher may emphasize religious or moral principles. For some of you, learning NFP, as opposed to FAM, may be an acceptable or even preferable option.

Can I use this method if I am nursing? What if I have just come off the Pill or other hormone-based methods of birth control?

If you are nursing, it is especially important that you chart your cycles. Otherwise, you won’t know that you’ve started ovulating again until you get your first post-partum period. At that point, if you had been having unprotected sex, you may have already conceived again. Charting will tell you when you’re about to ovulate so that you can avoid getting pregnant again, unless you want to.

If you have just come off the Pill, your cycles may be a bit wacky for a while. It may take you a while to start ovulating. You may have a short luteal phase (the phase between ovulation and menstrual bleeding). Eventually your cycles will return to normal. Because your cervical fluid may be difficult to interpret for a while after coming off hormone-based contraception, you should use a back-up method until you can confidently understand what your cervical fluid is telling you. Charting will show you how your body is returning to its natural functioning.

Can this method help me get pregnant?

Yes. FAM can identify your fertile window so that you can time intercourse optimally. It can also identify some common impediments to achieving pregnancy, such as a short luteal phase, insufficient fertile cervical fluid, anovulatory cycles, and early miscarriages. One of the nice things about FAM is that it is totally reversible at any time. You can use it to prevent pregnancy for as long as you like. If you decide you would like to conceive, just start having intercourse when you know you are fertile. When you want to start using contraception again, simply stop having intercourse during your fertile window. There is nothing to remove from your body, no wait for your hormones to resume normal functioning. Moreover, FAM will tell you when you are pregnant. Normally, your temperature will drop and your period will come 12-16 days after ovulation. If your temperature stays up for 18 day or more, which you’ll be able to see on your chart, you are almost certainly pregnant.

Will this method protect me from sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s)?

No. STD’s are rampant in our society. One in four Americans will get an STD in his or her lifetime. Some are incurable. Some have no symptoms. Some can cause sterility. Some are fatal. Most are just a temporary pain in the butt. If you are not in a committed, monogamous relationship in which both you and your partner have been tested for STD’s, use condoms. They’re not a guarantee, but they’re much better than nothing. Protect yourself. You can still chart your cycles and you will still benefit from knowing when you’re fertile, when you’re going to bleed, and if anything funky (like an infection or a cycle without ovulation) is going on, all of which FAM can tell you.

Moreover, the longer you practice charting your cycles, the easier it becomes, and the more integral a part of your life it becomes. If you are not in that committed monogamous relationship now, you might be in the future, and at that point you can confidently ditch the condoms, knowing exactly when you can get pregnant and when you can’t.