Family Planning & Ovulation
Family planning is used for either postponing pregnancy or attempting to conceive. It utilizes several different techniques for tracking changes in the woman's body to determine when ovulation occurs. The couple can then abstain from sex or try to conceive during the time of ovulation.
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Significance
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In order to become pregnant, the couple must have sex a few days before or the day of ovulation. Many couples do not know when ovulation occurs, so the family planning method can provide a natural way of determining this. Couples can also avoid using synthetic hormonal birth control by using family planning.
Features
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Women who use the family planning technique may monitor their cervical mucous or their basal body temperature (the symptothermal method). Cervical mucous becomes stretchy and slippery during the fertile time of the cycle, allowing the sperm to travel through the woman's body better. With the symptothermal method, ovulation is detected after the fact due to a rise in body temperature, which is caused by an increase in progesterone.
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Benefits
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Couples who are trying to conceive will greatly benefit from the family planning method. Many couples who have tried to get pregnant are actually missing the ovulation window, delaying the time it takes for conception to occur. Family planning can help speed up the process by ensuring that intercourse is timed correctly.
Time Frame
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The key element to family planning is timing. To prevent pregnancy, couples need to abstain from sex until ovulation is confirmed. This can be as little as 10 days into her cycle. For couples trying to conceive, having regular sex when the cervical mucous starts looking more like an egg white is advised until ovulation is confirmed.
Warning
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The woman should take the time to read up on properly identifying cervical mucous; she should also learn how to take her basal body temperature and chart it correctly. These will tell her when she is ovulating. Without doing these things, the family planning method may fail entirely.
Misconceptions
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Family planning can help prevent pregnancy or it can help a couple conceive, but neither method is foolproof. Unwanted pregnancies can still occur using the family planning method, and wanted pregnancies may still take months or even years of trying.
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