How natural family planning works

Natural family planning is a form of birth control that is based on the avoidance of sex during a woman’s fertile days. It is based on a good understanding of the menstrual cycle. You need to realise from the outset that natural family planning is not as effective as most other methods of contraception. About one in every four women who use natural contraception may end up with unwanted pregnancies.

There are a variety of methods for natural contraception. The success or failure of these methods will depend on your ability to recognise the signs that ovulation is about to occur, and avoid having sex during this fertile period. And if sex is unavoidable, you may choose to transiently use another method such as condoms. For most women, ovulation occurs about two weeks before the start of the next expected menstrual period. The egg is able to be fertilised for about 24 hours after it’s been released. Sperms, on the other hand, can live in a woman’s body for three days or more, retaining the potential to fertilise an egg all this time.