Fertility Awareness Method

There are several ways of predicting the fertile time of your cycle using observations of mucus from the neck of the womb, timing the length of your menstrual cycle and measuring body temperature.

You then avoid sex during the days that are thought to be the fertile time. Fertility Awareness Method usually involves using one or all of these approaches in combination. This approach is a less reliable way to prevent pregnancy, as it requires a regular menstrual cycle, motivation, organisation and abstinence from sex for some long periods of time.

We can discuss the basic background to the fertility awareness method with you. You can get expert advice and support to learn the Billings Ovulation Method from Fertility Care Scotland. Their clinic details and information about the Billings Method are on their website, www.fertilitycare.org.uk/. To learn these methods properly you are usually advised to abstain from sex for a few weeks so that you get to know your own body’s natural rhythms and vaginal discharge.

You can also look at the fertility UK website for useful charts and information about planning and avoiding pregnancy using other fertility awareness Methods. This is at www.fertilityuk.org.