The Untold Secret To Safe Days by Calendar Method in Less Than Ten Minutes

Table of Contents

• What is contraception

• What is unprotected intercourse?

• What's fertile period?

• What’s safe period?

• Who should follow natural fertility awareness methods?

• How to find out if your cycles are regular?

• 8 different types of natural family planning methods

Introduction

First, let’s go over some basic terms for a better understanding of the article !

What is contraception? 

A method of birth control which allows intercourse but prevents pregnancy is called contraception. It can be both natural and artificial.

What is unprotected intercourse? 

• The performance of a sexual intercourse without the use of any method of contraception or any precaution to avoid pregnancy is called an unprotected intercourse.  

• Fertility awareness means the person has to learn when the fertile period starts and when it ends during her monthly cycles. 

What's fertile period?

It is the period during a monthly cycle when a woman can get pregnant if she undergoes unprotected sexual intercourse with her partner. This period usually occurs around ovulation. Based on this knowledge, she can either plan about getting pregnant or avoid intercourse during this period completely to avoid pregnancy.

What’s safe period? 

It’s the period in a monthly cycle where a woman won’t most probably get pregnant if she undergoes unprotected sexual intercourse with her partner. In simple terms, it means she’s safe from pregnancy during this period . It’s also called the infertile period.

Who should follow natural fertility awareness methods?

Natural methods can be used either for getting pregnant or as techniques of birth control. Some patients are anxious about using different pills,drugs and devices ( like Copper T )for birth control and about their side effects. So they search for natural alternatives.

This may sound surprising, but not everyone is an appropriate candidate for natural methods. Hence , it’s important to know whether these methods are suitable to your specific needs.

Before getting into the details, please ask yourselves the following: 

• Do you worry about using pills or devices for birth control? 

• Are your cycles regular?

• Are you patient and motivated to constantly follow the techniques?

• Are you prepared for prolonged periods of abstinence from sexual intercourse with your partner?

If your answer is ‘Yes’ to all of them, you are at the right place!

How to find out if your cycles are regular? 

This can simply be found out by tracking your monthly cycles!

How to track your cycles? 

• Every month , when you get your periods, note down the first day of bleeding on a calendar. This tracking of the starting date for several months can help you to identify whether your cycles are regular.  

• Note down the ending date to assess the length of your periods every month 

• Note down other relevant details , whether the flow was heavy , was there any pain etc. which may be helpful later. 

Nowadays there are plenty of fertility calendar apps available to digitally track your periods and they even notify you about your possible day of ovulation and about the risk of getting pregnant. 

Now , let’s talk about the different natural methods of family planning. 

8 different types of natural family planning methods

1. Calendar method or Rhythm method

2. Standard days method ( Cyclebead) 

3. Basal body temperature method 

4. Mucus inspection method 

5. Withdrawal method

6. Symptothermal method 

7. Lactational infertility 

8. Using ovulation indicator kits are some of the common fertility awareness methods.

1. Calendar method or Rhythm method 

The calendar method or the rhythm method is one of the most commonly followed natural methods of birth control. 

Using the calendar method or the rhythm method , there are multiple ways to calculate the ‘safe period ‘:

1st Calendar Method

The average duration of a monthly cycle is 28 days , which means a female on an average, gets her periods every 28 days. This can however be highly variable in different individuals.

In a 28- day cycle, ovulation ( the event when a mature egg is released from the ovaries ) occurs usually on the 14th day of the cycle. But again this can occur between days 12 and 16. The egg has a lifetime of 12-24 hours after release and the sperms deposited in the vaginal tract of the female during intercourse can survive for 24 hours. So we can safely conclude that any unprotected intercourse between days 11 and 17 of the cycle can cause pregnancy! 

Based of this scientific knowledge, we can calculate the two safe periods in a cycle:

• between day 1 & day 10.

• Again between day 18 and day 28.

As you can see , it’s possible to follow the above method to calculate your safe days for birth control only if your cycles are perfectly regular for 28 days.

What to do if your cycles are not exactly 28 days ? ( means varying durations of days every month ) 

Majority of the people fall in this category. Again the duration of your cycle can be predicted by regular tracking on a calendar. This is when method 2 of the calendar or rhythm method will be helpful.

2nd Calendar Method

Step 1 - Track your cycles for 6-8 months regularly.

Step 2 - Out of all your cycles, pick out the shortest cycle . Now subtract 18 days from this cycle . The answer gives the first day of the fertile period. 

Step 3 - Now , pick out the longest cycle out of all your tracked cycles . Subtract 10 days from this cycle . The answer is the last day of the fertile period. 

Let’s see an example to understand this technique. 

Say you have now tracked the durations of all your cycles for the past 6 months . Let’s say they are 28 days, 29 days, 31 days 31 days, 30 days, 29 days respectively. 

Now the shortest cycle is 28 days : When we subtract 18 from this , we get 10. So day 10 is the first day of your fertile period. 

The longest cycle here is 31 days : When we subtract 10 from this , we get 21. So day 21 is the last day of your fertile period.

So in conclusion, any unprotected intercourse between days 10 and 21 can result in pregnancy.

This is the calendar method or the rhythm method of birth control explained in detail. 

Now the biggest question that arises in your mind is : Are there any disadvantages to the calendar method / rhythm method of birth control? 

The answer is unfortunately ‘ Yes’ . Like any other method of birth control , the natural calendar method is not free of issues.

• As you can see, the tracking methods are quite rigorous and need the utmost attention and motivation to follow regularly. 

• They have a high failure rate of 25 in 100, meaning for every 100 women who follow these techniques, 25 women get pregnant. This mainly happens because of irregular cycles or irregular ovulation. So the calendar or the rhythm method works only for those individuals with very regular and predictable cycles.

• They do not offer any protection against sexually transmitted diseases. 

• The calendar or the rhythm method cannot be of reliable use if your cycles are shorter than 26 days or longer than 32 days (even though the normal range of a menstrual cycle is between 21 and 35 days in most women).

Now let’s talk in brief about the other natural methods of birth control : 

2. Standard days method (Cyclebead) 

This is much simpler to follow  than other methods of natural birth control , but to be eligible for this method, the woman has to fulfil certain rigorous conditions : 

• your menstrual cycles should be extremely regular (always arrive at the same time every month).

• Your cycles should never be shorter than 26 days. 

• Your cycles should never be longer than 32 days.

How to follow Cyclebead method? 

In the standard days method, the woman should not have vaginal intercourse with her partner between days 8 and 19. (a period of 12 days). To keep track of these days, this method uses a string of beads called Cyclebeads. The Cyclebead has 33 coloured beads with a small black rubber ring to be moved from bead to bead according to the cycle.

• 1 Red bead : first day of your period. 

• 19 Brown beads : pregnancy is unlikely during these days. 

• 12 White beads : corresponds to days 8-19. Pregnancy is very likely during these days.

• 1 dark brown bead : it tells you whether your cycles are shorter or longer than 26 days. If the cycles are shorter than 26 days, this birth control method is not suitable for you. 

Again this method has a very high failure rate. 

3. Basal body temperature (BBT) method

In this method , the woman has to record her temperature every day after waking up in the morning. Around ovulation, there will be a slight increase in her temperature. This is a difficult technique to follow, hence not commonly preferred.

4. Mucus inspection method

In this method , the female has to feel the mucus from her cervix daily. Before ovulation, the secretions will be cloudy , scanty and sticky. Around ovulation, the secretions become abundant ,watery and clearer. This is the time when unprotected intercourse can cause pregnancy. The disadvantage of this technique is that the change in consistency is difficult to notice if not experienced. 

5. Symptothermal method

This method of birth control is a combination of the BBT method, the mucus inspection method and other signs and symptoms of ovulation. 

6. Withdrawal method

Also called ‘coitus interruptus ‘, it’s the method of withdrawing the penis from the woman’s vagina just before ejaculation. This method of birth control has a very high failure rate, causes a great stress to the male partner and does not offer any protection against sexually transmitted infections.

7. Lactational infertility

Regular breastfeeding after delivery, with at least one feed at night, has been shown to prevent pregnancy for at least 6 months. This method of birth control has a lesser failure rate of 0.5-1.5% in the first 6 months. This is because of increased levels of the hormone called Prolactin during breastfeeding that prevents ovulation, hence prevents pregnancy. But 6 months after delivery, the level of Prolactin starts falling and pregnancy can occur if the woman undergoes unprotected intercourse. 

8. Usage of ovulation kits

Ovulation monitoring strips are available in most of the drug stores. Just like pregnancy strips , the person needs to pee on these sticks to know if they’re currently ovulating or not. If not ovulating, the woman can go ahead and have unprotected sexual intercourse. But remember, they are not fully reliable. 

Take home points

Hope you got an insight into the different natural methods of birth control. 

• The individual has to be very motivated and patient to follow the above methods to avoid getting pregnant.

• You can use fertility calendar apps to assist you in the tracking.

• Also, to protect against sexually transmitted diseases, the above methods do not offer any help. 

• If you have irregular cycles or other complaints , contact your gynaecologist doctor immediately. 

Wishes for a pleasant , stress-free and healthy sex life!

FAQ on Calendar method or Rhythm method

1. What is the calendar method or rhythm method?

Ans. It’s a type of natural family planning where the woman has to track her monthly periods regularly to know the days when she can get pregnant. 

2. What’s the use of the calendar method?

Ans. It will help the woman know the days when she can have sexual intercourse without using any precaution and still not get pregnant. 

3. Can I get pregnant just after my periods have finished?

Usually for the first 9-10 days, starting from your first day of periods , the possibility of getting pregnant is less. 

4. Is the calendar method and rhythm method the same or different? 

Both these terms are the same and are used interchangeably. 

5. Can I get pregnant if I have sex during periods?

The answer is surprisingly yes ! This can happen rarely if you have mistaken the bleeding occurring around the time of ovulation as menstrual bleeding. 

6. I have irregular periods. Can I use the calendar method as a means of birth control?

It’s better to avoid using the calendar or rhythm method if you have irregular periods because the effectiveness further decreases with irregular periods. Consult your gynaecologist immediately to understand why you have irregular periods . 

7. Can following the calendar method / rhythm method offer protection against HIV and other STDs? 

No, none of the natural methods of birth control offer protection against sexually transmitted diseases.