For centuries people have been looking for different ways to avoid an unwanted pregnancy, and this is how the rhythm method came to life.
It has been created long before people heard about condoms or birth control pills, and it is said to be quite effective in some cases.
What is the rhythm contraception method?
The method is also known as fertility awareness, calendar method or periodic abstinence. Simply put, the main point of the method is not to have sexual intercourse on the days when women ovulate. On the other hand there are numerous couples that are using the reverse of this method to increase the chances of conception.
The first thing that you have to do in order to use the rhythm contraception method is to observe your menstrual cycle to find the pattern of your body.
This way you will know precisely on which days you are fertile. If you have this information you can avoid having intercourse on those days or you could use condom on the fertile days.
How does the rhythm method work?
As it has been mentioned before, the method focuses on the menstrual cycle of women. It is known that sperm is able to survive for 5-7 days in the right conditions, but an egg lives only for a day. According to this it is possible for the egg to be fertilized 4-5 days after having intercourse by the sperm that is still present in your body.
Nonetheless when using the rhythm contraception method we can say that after you ovulate it is safe to have sex until your next ovulation.
Who can use this method?
In order to be able to use this method of contraception you have to know about all the changes in your body. To be able to use the rhythm method you must have information regarding your menstrual cycle.
This means that you will also have to focus on your body temperature, cervical mucus, and other changes.
Because of the characteristics the women who don’t have regular cycles cannot really use the rhythm contraception method. In the same manner the young girls who don’t have regular cycles yet can’t use the method either.
How effective is it?
In case you miscalculate your fertile days, you can increase considerably your chances of getting pregnant. According to statistics about 25% of the women who use the rhythm method eventually get pregnant because they don’t use the method in the right way. Even in case the method is correctly used about 9% of the women still get pregnant.
Advantages
Since all you have to do is to keep track of your menstrual cycle, the rhythm contraception method seems to be simple compared to the hormone injections or the contraceptive patches. Other advantages include the fact that just any person can use it. The good thing about the rhythm method is that there is no need for any tools, it has no effect on foreplay or intercourse and it doesn’t affect the long term fertility of women.
