WOMEN’S BODIES: FERTILE PERIOD. TEMPERATURE MUCUS AND SYMPTOTHERMAL METHODS
The temperature method
Most women can reliably detect when ovulation has occurred by measuring basal body temperature (BBT). A temperature rise of 0.2-0.6°C that is sustained for three days is pretty good evidence that you’ve ovulated.
BBT must be taken each morning after waking, before getting out of bed and before eating, drinking or smoking. It doesn’t matter whether you put the thermometer in your vagina or under your tongue (the armpit is less reliable) as long as you always use the same place and leave it in place for at least three minutes before reading. Because the temperature rise is small, special BBT thermometers are available (from pharmacies). These have an amplified scale to make it easier to read small changes. You can buy special charts for recording BBT or make your own with graph paper.
The second infertile phase begins when BBT has been consistently raised for three days. This is playing very safe with ovum survival. If intercourse is confined to the second (post-ovulatory) fertile phase, the method has a very low failure rate (two or less pregnancies per hundred woman-years). The only thing that could go wrong would be a mild infection or anything else that can raise your BBT for three mornings in a row before ovulation.
Mucus methods
You can learn to detect the rhythmic changes in your cervical mucus by noting its amount and appearance, what it feels like, and how damp or dry your vulva feels. The different names for mucus methods refer to different ways of observing these changes. For example, the Billings method concentrates mainly on appearance and changes in sensation of moisture or dryness at the vulva: other teachers emphasise how the mucus feels.
The first infertile phase lasts from the first day of menstruation until the first observation of a change in the mucus. The Billings method advises against intercourse during menstruation (when the blood makes it impossible to assess mucus characteristics), and after menstruation suggests intercourse no more than every second night during the first infertile phase, to prevent confusion between mucus and semen.
During the fertile phase the mucus becomes increasingly copious, clear, watery and stretchy. The
second infertile phase begins three days after the mucus becomes thick, sticky and opaque. This method also plays very safe with ovum survival.
Some teachers advise confining intercourse to the evenings during the first fertile phase in case the mucus pattern changes to fertile during the night. If you didn’t notice the change, intercourse in the morning could lead to pregnancy. Also, when you’re on your feet during the day, cervical secretions travel down the vagina to the vulva, so that in the evening you have a better chance to observe characteristic features of the mucus. After the post-ovulatory mucus change, intercourse can be at any time.
There may be some practical problems with observing vaginal mucus and its changes.
• Discharge from inflammation of the vagina or cervix could make it hard to recognize fertile mucus.
• Semen and vaginal lubricating fluid of sexual arousal could be mistaken for fertile mucus.
• You can’t detect mucus changes during menstruation. If your cycle is short, this may mean that you can’t define the beginning of the fertile phase.
Symptothermal methods
These combine BBT and mucus observations. Some teachers include feeling the ‘cervix. Some women can detect that as
ovulation approaches their cervix feels softer, larger, higher in the vagina and the external os is more lax. The more changes you note, the less likely you are to make a mistake about when you’re fertile.
Though most teachers advise abstinence from sexual intercourse during the fertile phase, this doesn’t mean that you can’t express your love physically or satisfy each other sexually. There are hundreds of ways to make love without ejaculation into the vagina. In the textbooks this is given the grand name of’non-coital sexual gratification’. Some couples choose to use condoms, a cervical barrier or withdrawal during the fertile phase.
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