- Fertility awareness methods, such as the rhythm and standard days methods, cervical mucus method and basal body temperature method all require monitoring of a woman's fertility cycle to determine the days when she is most likely to be fertile. She then abstains from sex on those days or uses another method. The lactational amennorrhea method is for women breastfeeding exclusively in the first 6 months after birth. The hormonal changes caused by breastfeeding prevent ovulation throughout the month.
- The rhythm and standard days methods determine which days a woman is expected to be fertile based on when her period is expected. A woman then abstains from sex or uses another form of birth control during this period. A woman must have a regular menstrual cycle for these methods to be most effective.
- The cervical mucus method, also know as the ovulation method requires a woman to monitor the consistency of her cervical mucus. A woman keeps a calendar of her mucus changes for the month and then determines which days she is most likely to get pregnant. Several things can alter cervical mucus, making this method more difficult to track.
- In the temperature method, a woman takes her temperature first thing in the morning, every morning, and keeps track of the changes. When her temperature has risen, by only a few tenths of a degree, she is ovulating. The temperature method cannot predict what days a woman will be ovulating but charting may allow her to predict when she will ovulate.
- The lactational amenorrhea method works because breastfeeding changes a woman's hormones, making her body not ovulate. This method only works when a woman is using breastfeeding as the only method of feeding. This method only works for the first 6 months of breastfeeding and is not foolproof.
