Table of contents:
- Birth control calendar to prevent pregnancy naturally
- Preparation before using calendar birth control
- Understand the use of calendar KB
- Ovulation process
- How to do the calendar method KB
- 1. Record your menstrual cycle
- 2. Determine the length of your shortest menstrual cycle
- 3. Determine the length of your longest menstrual cycle
- 4. Plan the right time to have sex
- 5. Update your calculations every month
- The risks of using a birth control calendar to prevent pregnancy
Have you ever heard of the term calendar birth control? The calendar system or the rhythm calendar method is a natural form of contraception to prevent pregnancy without the risk of side effects. However, is calendar birth control an effective method of preventing pregnancy? Check out the following explanation.
Birth control calendar to prevent pregnancy naturally
The calendar birth control system is a form of natural contraception. This method relies on recording your menstrual cycle to predict your fertile period.
If you are planning a pregnancy, you can use a calendar birth control system to determine the best day or date for having sex. Vice versa, you can use calendar birth control as a natural way to prevent pregnancy.
To use the calendar method, you have to keep track of your menstrual history to predict when you will ovulate. Therefore, family planning calendars require diligence and careful recording so that the results can be accurate.
Remember! KB with this calendar system can only prevent pregnancy, and in no way protect you and your partner from the possibility of transmission of venereal disease if you do not use condoms.
Preparation before using calendar birth control
Some of this information can help your doctor determine whether calendar birth control can help you prevent pregnancy. The information you should tell your doctor before using calendar birth control as a method of contraception is:
- Just finished menstruating
- Just gave birth
- Just stopped using hormonal contraceptives, such as birth control pills
- Are breastfeeding
- It's approaching the age of menopause
- Have irregular menstrual cycles
If your doctor or medical professional has stated that birth control with this calendar system can effectively help you delay pregnancy, you can start doing this birth control.
Understand the use of calendar KB
If you want to use a birth control calendar as a natural way to prevent pregnancy, at least you have to understand what happens to the body during the menstrual cycle. This can help you understand the use of the calendar system KB.
The menstrual cycle is the monthly hormonal cycle that the body goes through to prepare for pregnancy. This cycle is calculated from the first day of menstruation until the first day of the next menstruation.
Usually, the menstrual cycle is divided into three phases, namely:
- Pre-ovulatory infertility (early period of infertility). The first day of your monthly menstrual cycle is the first day of your infertility period.
- The fertile period (ovulation)
- Post-ovulatory infertility (a few days of infertility before the next period begins to return
Ovulation process
Ovulation is the time when an egg is released from the ovary, so that it can be fertilized by sperm to produce children. This generally occurs once a month, about 14 days after the first day of menstruation.
A woman is most likely to become pregnant if they have sex without contraception within the three days before and until the day of ovulation.
This is because the sperm are already in place and ready to fertilize the egg as soon as it is released.
A man's sperm can live for 3 to 5 days in a woman's reproductive organs, but a woman's egg only lives for 12 to 24 hours after ovulation.
So, if the sperm stays in your reproductive tract while waiting for the new egg to come down, your chances of getting pregnant will still be there. You can still get pregnant if you have sex a few days before your ovulation period.
In most cases, this biological mechanism allows the fertile period to last up to 5-8 days after sexual intercourse. This is influenced by several things, including:
- Characteristics of partner sperm
- The frequency of ejaculation during the fertile period
The specific days on which ovulation occurs will depend on the length of your menstrual cycle. This is largely controlled by changes in your body's hormones.
As already mentioned, the expiration period of the sperm in the body is five days after ejaculation. Therefore, women are said to be in their most fertile period when:
- Five days before ovulation
- During the day of ovulation
- 12-24 hours after ovulation
The calendar method of birth control is used as a way to determine the best days for or avoiding unprotected sex. Some women choose to use this birth control if they have a certain medical history or for reasons of belief.
How to do the calendar method KB
If you already understand how the contraceptive calendar system works, now is the time for you to understand how to use the calendar system as a method of contraception. Quoted from the Mayo Clinic, see the following explanation:
1. Record your menstrual cycle
To implement calendar birth control, you must carefully record your menstrual cycle for at least six consecutive months.
Make sure that you have marked the first day of your menstrual cycle. The first day of your menstrual cycle is the day you start your period.
Then, also mark the first day of the following cycles. Count the number of days spanning cycle one and cycle two.
If the distance from the first cycle to the second cycle is less than 27 days apart, the calendar system may not be accurate for you.
2. Determine the length of your shortest menstrual cycle
Subtract 18 from the number of days in your shortest cycle by. This number represents the first fertile day of your cycle.
For example, suppose your shortest cycle is 26 days, so 26 days minus 18, which is 8. In this example, the first day of your cycle is the first day of menstrual bleeding and the 8th day is the first day of your first fertile period.
3. Determine the length of your longest menstrual cycle
Subtract 11 from your longest number of cycles. This number represents the last fertile day of your cycle.
For example, suppose your longest cycle is 32 days, eating 32 days minus 11 equals 21. In this example, the first day of your cycle is the first day of menstrual bleeding and the 21st day is the last day of your fertile period.
4. Plan the right time to have sex
If you use a calendar birth control system to prevent pregnancy from becoming pregnant, avoid having unprotected sex during your fertile period, every month.
Conversely, if you are planning a pregnancy, have sexual intercourse at the fertile period that has been calculated in the manner mentioned above.
5. Update your calculations every month
Continue to record the length of your menstrual cycle to determine your fertile period correctly.
Keep in mind that many factors, including medications, stress, and illness, can influence the timing of ovulation. Using a calendar method to predict ovulation can be inaccurate, especially if your cycles are irregular.
The risks of using a birth control calendar to prevent pregnancy
Birth control with a calendar system does not cost you anything and is considered safe to help you prevent pregnancy. That said, the calendar system may not pose a significant risk to the health of you and your partner.
However, when compared to other contraceptive methods, this system may not be arguably effective enough in delaying pregnancy.
The reason is, the effectiveness of this family planning depends on each individual. This means that if the birth control calendar is effective for other couples, it is not necessarily that the calendar system is also effective for you and your partner.
In fact, reported by the Mayo Clinic, 24 out of 100 women who use calendar birth control experience pregnancy in the first year of trial with this method. In addition, natural birth control like this does not help you prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
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