Is 2016 going to be the year you take charge of your fertility and start practicing the fertility awareness method (FAM)? There’s never been a better time than now to learn how your body works and take control of your health.
Most of my clients are nervous about using FAM as natural birth control for the first time. After all, we’ve been taught that any time you have sex you can get pregnant, but this is not true! The egg only lives for a maximum of 24 hours and the sperm can live for up to five days inside of your body, so there’s really only about six days or so when you can get pregnant in each menstrual cycle! And when practiced correctly FAM can be up to 99.6% effective!
You should also know that using FAM isn’t something you just jump into (that’s a sure-fire way to have an unplanned pregnancy!). It’s a step-by-step process that you can implement over time as you become more confident understanding when you’re fertile and when you’re infertile.
In the beginning you wouldn’t have unprotected sex at all because you are still learning (abstinence, alternative sex, or other birth control like condoms could be used). Once you have been practicing for a while, you would only have unprotected sex after ovulation is confirmed towards the end of your cycle, and as you get more confident you could choose to have unprotected sex at other times of the cycle as well.
Pretty much all my clients were nervous when they first started (so was I!), but they soon became confident and excited by the prospect of having worry-free unprotected sex (it is awesome!). Don’t forget, you can use condoms until you are totally sure of yourself and once you know the rules for FAM you can make fully informed choices.
And remember, you’re not alone! My job is to support you, teach you the rules, and make sure you are confident and know what you’re doing. There’s a bit of a learning curve but once you learn FAM it’s really easy, and empowering!