NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING
“Natural
family planning” refers to methods that seek to prevent pregnancy by either
avoiding intercourse around the time of ovu-lation or using knowledge of the
time of ovulation to augment other methods, such as barriers or spermicides. These
methodsare safe, cost little, and may be more acceptable for couples who wish a
natural method. However, the failure rate with typical use is high. For couples
who are highly motivated and for women with a regular menstrual cycle, these
meth-ods may provide acceptable contraception.
Several methods are in use, and
all are based on esti-mation of the woman’s fertile period:
· Calendar
method
· Basal
body temperature method
· Cervical
mucus method
· Symptothermal
method
The calendar method is based on
calculation of a woman’s fertile period. For a woman with a regular 28-day
cycle, the fertile period would last from days 10 through 17. Additional days
are added to the fertile period based on the time of shortest and longest
menstrual interval. Basal body temperatures and changes in cervical mucus are
used to detect ovulation. A rise in basal body temperature of 0.5°F to 1°F, or the presence of thin, “stretchy,” clear
cer-vical mucus, indicates ovulation. The symptothermal method combines
assessment of cervical mucus and basal body temperature methods.
Couples using these methods avoid
intercourse until a suitable period after ovulation, that is, 2 to 3 days after
temperature rise or from the first awareness of the clear, copious mucus
associated with ovulation until 4 to 5 days thereafter, indicated by the
appearance of the milky or opaque mucus seen in the postovulatory, or “safe,”
inter-val. These methods are especially difficult to use in the postpartum
period, when menstrual regularity has not yet resumed and cervical secretions
are varied in appearance. Ovulation can occur as early as the fifth week
postpartum. Lactation may temporarily suppress ovulation for up to six months
in women who are exclusively breastfeeding. Lactation as a method of
contraception is unpredictable because a woman may begin ovulation before she
resumes menstruation.
Related Topics
Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, DMCA Policy and Compliant
Copyright © 2018-2023 BrainKart.com; All Rights Reserved. Developed by Therithal info, Chennai.