QuestionHi,
I am going to be married next month 8th...i.e feb-8-2006. Now me and my would be wife are both in dilemma that how we can enjoy sex with out any pregnancy problem that too naturally. I heard about safe period...what is it? Are there any better and safe methods? Please let me know quickly...thanks in advance
AnswerThe safest period if from the time of ovulation until the end of her cycle just before she starts her bleeding period. It needs some understanding of her particular cycle to know the exact "safe" time so I can't give you more information.
Natural Family Planning is also called Systematic NFP and is based on daily fertility awareness. It can be used both to achieve and to avoid or postpone pregnancy. When used to avoid pregnancy, the basic "method" is abstinence from the marital embrace during the fertile time. Technically, this form of NFP is best called "systematic" NFP, but today it is common to use the generic term "NFP". Most attention today is given to systematic NFP.
The practice of systematic natural family planning is so easy to learn and use that a basic set of rules can be written on the two sides of a slip of paper the size of a business card:
To AVOID Pregnancy
1. Phase I ends on Cycle Day 6, providing you are still mucus-dry and have not had cycles shorter than 26 days in the past two years. Abstain beginning with Cycle Day 7.
2. Phase III begins on the evening of the Peak Day plus 4 cross-checked by 3 days of full thermal shift after Peak Day. Peak Day is the last day of mucus before drying up. You will notice the secretions increasing from right after your period ends until a couple of weeks before your next period begins. When the drying up starts, that is a sign that ovulation has occurred.
To ACHIEVE Pregnancy
1. Abstain from Cycle Day I until you have the more-fertile mucus.
2. Have marital relations every other day up through Peak Day plus 2.
3. Keep taking your waking temperature. A thermal shift of 21 days provides you with a 99% probability that you are pregnant.
4. To estimate you due date, determine the first day of sustained thermal shift, subtract seven days, and add nine months.
You won't understand these rules right now, but take a look. You will notice that the reason you don't understand them is simple: you don't know the terms involved. For example, "Phase III' means "the post ovulation infertile time of the cycle, the phase of the cycle when progesterone is naturally suppressing ovulation." Even that sentence contains some shorthand expressions: "cycle" means the female menstrual cycle, the time from the beginning of one menstruation (period) until the day before the beginning of the next menstruation. If you reread that last sentence a couple of times, you will understand why we have to use some shorthand phrases.
The brief rules on the "To Avoid/Postpone Pregnancy" summarize part of our system. Experience suggests that most married couples can use those brief and simple rules in most of their fertile cycles even though those rules are conservative.
To get more information you need to read a book about Natural Family Planning. Maybe you can find one in your library or bookstore. Most doctors and clinics don't understand this system and will not be much help. But it is natural and safe when you know the rules.
