Hormone-free birth control is all the rage. Many women no longer want to suppress their natural cycle with the pill or other hormonal products. That’s because too many women suffer from the side effects of these medications. Fortunately, there are some really great alternatives for reliable contraception without hormones.
As the name suggests, hormone-free contraceptive methods do not release hormones. Therefore, they do not cause the typical side effects associated with hormonal contraceptives, such as Pill. With hormone-free contraception, your body and your cycle remain in natural balance. Side effects or interactions such as weight gain, loss of libido, or mood swings are completely absent. And most importantly: it doesn’t suppress your ovulation or your overall fertility! In addition, by closely monitoring your Know your cycle inside out. This gives you the opportunity to develop a positive awareness of your cycle and a better sense of your body.
But what methods are available, and which one is right for me and my situation? Read on to find out what the most common methods are and what their pros and cons are.
Perhaps you’re familiar with the “classic” temperature method? With this method, you take your temperature every morning before getting out of bed using a simple thermometer. Using this method for birth control requires a great deal of practice and discipline. In addition, the results can be skewed by factors such as sleep disturbances, high stress levels, shift work, and so on. All of this has led to the “classic” temperature method being used less and less.
The symptothermal method combines the temperature method with observation of cervical mucus and palpation of the cervix. It offers greater reliability than the “classic” temperature method. However, many women find this too time-consuming in their busy daily lives. Furthermore, the method is only truly reliable if used precisely. If a few days’ worth of your notes are missing or are inaccurate, you can no longer draw a reliable conclusion.
There are also many other methods that can help you with natural family planning. However, be sure to carefully review the safety information and how reliability might be affected.
All hormone-free birth control methods have one thing in common: they do not use hormones to alter your cycle. Beyond that, the various approaches rely on very different principles. The foundation is always the observation of physical changes around the time of ovulation and your fertile days. Some methods track your cycle very precisely. Other approaches rely solely on general knowledge about the female cycle. Ultimately, you have to decide for yourself which method best meets your need for reliability. The most commonly used methods and tools for natural contraception are:
Read on to learn more about the use, safety, and reliability of each method.
The symptothermal method, also known as the Roetzer method, is the most reliable method of natural family planning because it combines Temperature-, Calendar– and Cervical Mucus Method and evaluates various bodily signals and parameters according to established rules.
In the symptothermal method, various fertility indicators—such as changes in cervical mucus, the cervix, and basal body temperature—are closely monitored and recorded throughout the menstrual cycle.
The temperature method is a form of natural family planning in which the fertile window is determined by tracking changes in basal body temperature.
Basal body temperature is the lowest temperature the body reaches within a 24-hour period. This usually occurs at night, while sleeping. In practice, basal body temperature is often considered to be the same as the temperature upon waking.
In the 1930s, the Austrian physician Knaus and his Japanese colleague Ogino developed the calendar method (Knaus-Ogino) for contraception, which is named after them.
It is based on the understanding at the time that ovulation occurs around the middle of the cycle and can theoretically be calculated using a menstrual calendar.
The cervical mucus method, also known as the Billings method, was developed by the couple of the same name and determines your fertile days solely based on changes in your cervical mucus throughout your cycle.
You should observe your cervical mucus throughout the day and record the consistency of the discharge in a fertility chart each evening, based on how it feels, looks, and appears.
Most period tracking apps are digital calendars that don’t require any hardware. In most cases, all you have to do is enter the start and end dates of your cycle, as well as the length of your period.
Based on this data and the calendar method, they provide a probability of conception and a prediction of the next ovulation.
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