Calendar Method: Natural Family Planning

Calendar Method or Rhythm Method

Natural Family Planning Method

Description

It is a form of contraceptive methods that don’t use chemical or foreign material or devices to prevent pregnancy. The religious beliefs may prevent some individuals from using hormonal or internal contraceptive devices. Others just prefer a more natural method of planning or preventing pregnancy. For most natural family planning methods, the individual’s fertile days must be calculated so that she can abstain from intercourse on those days.

·        Various methods are used to determine the individual’s fertile period.

·        The effectiveness of these methods depends on the person’s and person’s willingness to refrain from sex on the individual’s fertile days.

·        Failure rates vary from 10% to 20%.

Natural family planning methods include the rhythm, or calendar method.

Rhythm Method

-        It is also known as the calendar method;

-        Requires that the couple refrain from intercourse on these days the individual is most likely to conceive based on her menstrual cycle; and

-        This fertile period usually lasts from 3 to 4 days before until 3 to 4 days after ovulation.

Advantages

-        No drugs or devices needed;

-        It is free;

-        It may be acceptable to members of religious groups that oppose birth control;

-        It encourages couples to learn more about how the female body functions;

-        It encourage communication between partners; and

-        It can also be used to plan a pregnancy.

Disadvantages

-        It requires meticulous record keeping as well as ability and willingness for the individual to monitor her body changes;

-        It restricts sexual spontaneity during the person’s fertile period;

-        It requires extended periods of abstinence from intercourse;

-        It is reliable for individual with regular menstrual cycle; and

-        It may be unreliable during periods of illness, infection, or stress.

Implications

-        Teach the person to keep a diary of her menstrual cycle (for six consecutive cycles) to determine when ovulation is most likely to occur;

-        To calculate her safe periods, tell her to subtract 18 from the shortest cycle and 11 from the longest cycle that she has documented;

-        For instance, if she had 6 menstrual cycles that lasted 26 to 30 days, her fertile period would be from the 8^th day (26 minus 18) to the 19^th day (30 minus 11);

-        To ensure that pregnancy does not occur, she and her partner should abstain from intercourse during days 8 to 19 of her menstrual cycle; and

-        During those fertile days, she and her partner may also choose to use contraceptive foam.