Natural family planning
Natural family planningFamily planningWhen you plan your family, you decide whether, when and how many children…Read more means that no methods of contraception are used.
There are various methods of natural family planning:
- Not having sexual intercourse. However, it is natural for people to have sexSexAll acts that can sexually arouse you. Sex is more than sexual intercourse.…Read more.
- Not having sexual intercourseSexual intercourseSexual act in which the penis penetrates (enters) the vagina or anus.Read more when a woman is in her fertile period. These kinds of methods are also known as fertility awareness methods. However, it is difficult to know on which days a woman can get pregnant.
- Withdrawing the penisPenisMale sexual organ. The penis is used for sex (ejaculation) or to urinate.Read more before the man ejaculates.
- Breast-feeding.
Rhythm method: it is difficult to calculate when a woman is fertile and cannot have sexual intercourse
Fertility awareness methods
When using fertility awareness methods you will not have sexual intercourse on the days when the woman is most at riskRiskPossibility that something unpleasant may happen, for example a disease.Read more of getting pregnant or you will take precautions to lower the chances of getting pregnant. There are multiple ways to predict the fertileFertileIf you are fertile, you are able to have a baby (if you…Read more days in the menstrual cycleCycleNumber of days between the first day of a woman's menstruation and the first…Read more. These are less reliable than methods of contraceptionContraceptionMeans and methods of preventing pregnancy. Condoms and the contraceptive pill are examples…Read more. There are few women who have a menstrual cycle that is the same exact length every month. The day of ovulationOvulationMoment at which a ripe egg cell is released from 1 of the…Read more can differ every month. If you combine methods, you can predict the ovulation more closely.
- Calendar method: ovulation takes place about 14 days before the menstruationMenstruationThe loss of blood once a month through a woman's vagina. Menstruation lasts…Read more. If you have a very regular cycle, you can calculate when the ovulation will be approximately. 7 days before the predicted ovulation and 2 days after that there is a high risk of getting pregnant when having sexual intercourse without a condomCondomCovering of thin rubber that a man wears over his erect penis. A…Read more. You can choose to set day 8 to day 19 as the most at risk days in your cycle to be more certain.
- Temperature method: the body temperature rises after the ovulation with a maximum of 0.5 degrees. If you temperature yourself every morning directly after waking up and keep notes of this, you can see when you ovulated. If you notice this spike in temperature every month around the same day, you can use it to predict your ovulation. 7 days before the predicted ovulation and 2 days after that there is a high risk of getting pregnant when having sexual intercourse without a condom.
- Cervical mucus method: look and feel the cervical mucus. Your vaginal dischargeVaginal dischargeColourless or white fluid from the vagina. This is normal. The fluid prevents…Read more becomes more transparent and stretchy when ovulation is coming up. Here too it applies that from 7 days before ovulation and 2 days after there is a high risk of getting pregnant when having sexual intercourse without a condom.
Withdrawal method
Withdrawing the penis before the man ejaculates:
- Before he ejaculates, a man may already lose a bit of fluid that might contain sperm cells.
- It is difficult to know exactly when a man ejaculates. An orgasmOrgasmThe height of sexual arousal. It is an intensely pleasant feeling. All your…Read more is often very overwhelming or fast and unexpected. Then it is very difficult to withdrawTo withdrawTo pull the penis out of the vagina just before ejaculation. This is…Read more the penis before the first semenSemenThick white fluid that comes out of a man's penis when he ejaculates.…Read more comes out.
- If the man ejaculates near the vaginaVaginaPart of the inner sexual organs of a woman. The vagina connects the…Read more, sperm cells might reach the vagina. This means the woman could get pregnant.
Withdrawal method: the man removes his penis from the vagina before he ejaculates.
Breast-feedingBreast-feedingA woman can breast-feed her baby with milk from her own breast, rather…Read more
The breast-feeding method only works under the following conditions:
- The method only works during the first 6 months following deliveryDeliveryThe process of giving birth to a baby.Read more and only if you have not had your menstruation yet. After 6 months, it is best to use a method of contraception, even if you have not had your menstruation. For instance: the condom or the mini-pill.
- The woman must only breast-feed her baby. This means the baby only gets breast-milkBreast-milkMilk from a woman's breast. Women can feed their baby with breast-milk.Read more. There should never be more than 4 hours between feedings during the day and 6 hours between feedings during the night.
- The woman should not express milk. Expressing milk is squeezing the breast with a hand or using a pump to suck milk from the breast.
If you do not meet these conditions, use a method of contraception. While breast-feeding, it is best to use a condom or the mini-pill.
Woman breast-feeding her baby.
Not very reliable
It is difficult to use natural family planning methods correctly. You can get pregnant if you do not use these methods correctly.
If you do not wish to have children, it is best to consider using another method. Ask a doctor or midwife for advice.
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