Not your mom's "rhythm method"!
I don't talk about the method of birth control that Nathan and I use often (who wants to be around the crazy lady that's always talking about taking her temperature in the morning? or checking her "fertility signs"?), but I just had to post this article that was on MSNBC.com:
Tracking fertility signs as effective as the Pill:
When done correctly ‘symptothermal’ method reliably prevents pregnancy
I've gotten lots of doubtful comments from people when they find out that we use the Fertility Awareness Method (a symptothermal method of birth control)...in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if certain members of my family (or Nathan's family) had put bets on when we'd have a "surprise" baby.
But, the reason I bring this up is that finally someone did a study on it and the study has proven that, when done right, the method is highly effective...about the same as the Pill (but without the side effects...one of the main reasons we decided to avoid it). On top of that, a major news source actually talked about it. I am so tired of seeing articles (especially in women's magazines) that mention the Pill (in all it's various forms), IUDs, and barrier methods (condoms, diaphragms), etc, but never a mention of Natural methods, except perhaps in a derogatory way. I've known quite a few people who have been successful with natural methods. It's sad that the baby has often been thrown out with the bathwater (the real "Rhythm method" - referred to by some family members that shall remain unnamed as "the sun, moon and stars hippie stuff" - is NOT the same as the symptothermal method and is very unreliable and has therefore turned off a lot of people to "Natural" methods, which tend to all get lumped together).
Here are a few quotes from the article:"In the present study, reported in the journal Human Reproduction, the symptothermal method led to an overall annual unplanned pregnancy rate of approximately 0.6 percent per 100 women, which is on par with the rates typically seen with contraceptive pills."
Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now, but if you want more info, check out the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler (also available on Amazon.com). Even if you aren't looking for an alternative form of birth control, this is an excellent resource for any woman (or man) who wants to understand how the woman's body works and the unique variations in our cycles and reproductive systems. I've learned so much valuable information from this book that I can reference my entire life, no matter what phase I'm in.
Among women who always used the symptothermal method correctly, the unplanned pregnancy rate was 0.4 percent. “Therefore, we maintain that the effectiveness of the symptothermal method is comparable to the effectiveness of modern contraceptive methods,” she added."
"The annual unplanned pregnancy rate among women who abstained from intercourse during fertile phases was 0.4 percent, and the rate among women who used barrier devices during this phase was 0.6 percent.
Roughly 9 percent of women stopped using the symptothermal method due to dissatisfaction or difficulties, which is much lower than the 30 percent drop-out rates reported with some other family planning methods."
PS: I am not militant about this...I just want people to know there is another option that doesn't require messing with your hormones or your body unnecessarily, or require barrier methods to be used every single time.
3 comments:
All this baby talk got you worried?? j/k
I like that there are many natural methods, it didn't work for my overly fertile eggs though. They hang out for a while & really, really liked George's little soldiers ;o) too much info?
Actually no. I was fighting baby fever a little today ;) I swear I'm immune to being scared about the physical affects. It doesn't bother me in the least.
And no, not TMI for me. The message board I spend the most time on is full of pg women (and nursing moms) who talk in detail about various trying-to-conceive/pg/nursing things). I am unfazed.
And I bet FAM would theoretically work for you...you just would have to be much more conservative about the fertile period (or use a barrier method during that time like we do). But I know on a practical, real-life level, it doesn't work for everyone.
Okay... so maybe I'm not such a good poster child for the effectiveness of the rhythm method right now.... but it worked for us for two years.
And we, we as in I, didn't do anything more complicated than keeping track of when I got my period and then count out the days on a calender to figure out when that would mean I was most likely to ovulate next.
My cycle was ridiculously regular for years. The bar exam and associated stress, messed that up though, and the rest is history. ;o)
I think it would have been more effective if we had taken the additional precautions such as temperature readings etc. Although we weren't trying to get pregnant, we both admitted to not being fully committed to preventing it 100% - otherwise we would have been more careful.
But, seriously, baring abstinence, nothing's 100%. I have a friend that got pregnant on the pill for example, and you are very right about there being many, many natural, rhythm methods, and rhythm method-like forms of birth control that work just as well for a lot of people.
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