What is Fertility Awareness?
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A land-friendly practice of fertility management
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Based on self-knowledge and body literacy
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A life skill that takes you through life transitions
Fertility Awareness is the practice of:
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1. Observing cyclical changes in your body,
2. Recording what you see following standardized rules, and
3. Making sense of your recorded data to see your cycle's health, and understand when you are fertile or infertile each menstrual cycle.
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People who menstruate generally experience cycles of fertility and infertility. To understand our cycles, we observe changes in body temperature, cervical mucus (the stuff you might see in your underwear), and optionally, cervical changes.
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Learning the principles of fertility awareness can help you understand how the rhythms of your reproductive cycle are related to your whole body's health.
You might be familiar with cycle charting as something people do when they want to get pregnant. Fertility awareness can do so much more than that! It is a versatile tool that can also be used to avoid pregnancy, monitor menstrual health, track cyclical changes in mental health, sexual desire, and much more.
The practice of cycle charting is not generally taught in medical, midwifery, or nursing schools. There is much misinformation about efficacy and scientific basis out there. Health providers who are not trained in how to use or teach fertility awareness as a way to avoid pregnancy will not usually discuss it as an option.
In fact, the sympto-thermal method of fertility awareness is nearly as effective as hormonal birth control in helping people avoid pregnancy.
However, not all methods that are based on fertility awareness can help you understand your cycle better. Period tracking apps can be great tools, but they don't always teach the user what to look for, and what it means. If you are avoiding pregnancy, be aware!
Apps that use algorithms to predict times of fertility and infertility based on your period alone cannot adjust in real time to the ways your cycle will vary with stress, illness, and other concerns.
Do not rely on an app for birth control without making your own body observations.
When you are familiar with your own body, you can consider your unique physiology, and the normal and abnormal variations of your personal cycle.
Fertility awareness is not about predicting reproductive events. It is about tuning into your own body, and gathering real-time information that you can use to know whether you are fertile or infertile day to day.
Body Literacy
Learning the practice of Fertility Awareness means becoming body literate.
When you learn to read and comprehend the cycle of events of your reproductive system, you can tune in to the unique rhythms of your body.
Fertility Awareness gives you powerful self-knowledge to restore and sustain wellness at every stage of your sexual and reproductive life.
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Find the wisdom in every cycle, and enjoy vitality in every phase of life.
Why learn Fertility Awareness?
Tune into your body's cyclical nature
Understand your cycle, understand yourself. Tuning into the way that you change cyclically gives you powerful self-knowledge to make sense of changes in mood, physical symptoms, sexual desire, and more!
Avoid pregnancy, on your terms
Have you ever struggled with the side effects of hormonal birth control? It is not the only effective option out there! Learn fertility awareness, and you will understand how to avoid pregnancy without side effects, devices, or procedures.
Heal from heavy, unpredictable, or painful menstrual periods
Do you accept heavy or painful periods as part of life? Periods are not supposed to make us suffer. Learn how your cycle works, and you will have powerful data to tackle menstrual health issues at the root cause.
First period? Postpartum? Breast/chest feeding? In perimenopause?
Transition through reproductive life events confidently, with deep understanding of your body's changes.
Achieve pregnancy, on your terms
Are you ready to welcome a baby into your life? Learn fertility awareness, and you will have in depth knowledge of your fertile window to time intercourse or insemination and increase your chances of conceiving.
Holistic fertility assessment
Is your cycle healthy? Do you feel your best? Assess your health and prepare your body for pregnancy, so you can set yourself up for success in the 4th trimester and beyond.