Straightforward Guide to Starting Fertility Awareness
Curious about what fertility awareness is?
The fertility awareness method (FAM) is the practice of observing your biomarkers to identify when in your cycle you’re fertile, and when you’re not. We need both sperm and a viable egg for conception to occur, the lifespan of sperm in cervical mucus PLUS the lifespan of the egg is about 7 days long. We track ovulation with observable biomarkers (like basal body temperature and cervical mucus) and tailor our decisions based on our intentions with pregnancy. If we don’t want to get pregnant, we avoid unprotected sex during our fertile window, and enjoy worry-free unprotected sex when pregnancy is biologically impossible.
Unlike other methods of contraception, fertility awareness requires you and your partners’ full participation. FAM isn’t a fix-it-and-forget-it type birth control, you have to understand how the method works and follow the rules if you want it to be effective.
With the knowledge of fertility awareness, it opens so many doors beyond birth control. Learning fertility awareness gives you knowledge that will benefit you for your entire life.
Set up your chart
Let’s start charting! At the most basic level, charting is paying attention to your cycle day and recording your observations. If you’re off hormonal birth control you can start charting at any time. The first day of your cycle is the first day of full blood flow where you need a pad, tampon or menstrual cup.
Find something to chart on, whether you chart on paper or in an app, pick something that you’re more likely to stick with. Find a paper chart in my store, or use an app like the Read Your Body app.
The key for fertility charting is that you need a space to chart temperature, a row to track cervical mucus, cycle days and days of the month/week, as well as the ability to mark a coverline, peak day and temperature shift.
Start charting
Start by getting in the habit of charting every day. If you’re using a symptothermal method of fertility awareness, you will be charting basal body temperature and cervical mucus.
Basal Body Thermometer is a thermometer that goes to 2 decimal places. You’ll want to take your temperature before you get out of bed at the same time each morning, after at least 3 hours of sleep. You can find a basal body thermometer at your local drugstore or order one online.
Each method of fertility awareness will have it’s own type of interpretation, observation and categorization of cervical mucus. Most symptothermal methods of fertility awareness will categorize cervical mucus into dry, non-peak and peak.
Learn a method thoroughly
Fertility awareness based methods (FABM) is an umbrella term for the array of fertility charting methods. Under this umbrella are:
Symptothermal Fertility Awareness Based Methods: the use of cervical mucus and basal body temperature (Sensiplan, TCOYF, Justisse, Symptopro, Serena)
Symptohormonal Methods: the use of cervical mucus and a hormonal check like LH or Estrogen urine tests (FEMM, Marquette, Boston Cross-Check)
Cervical Mucus Only Methods: detailed charting of cervical mucus only (Billings, Creighton)
Self teach
If you are a dedicated, self-motivated learner, you can teach yourself how to use fertility awareness. If you decide to go this route, it’s important that you thoroughly learn your chosen method. You can’t half-ass FAM. Folks have succeeded self-teaching, however there is a more significant risk of unintended pregnancy going this route.
If you do decide to self-teach, learn the method in it’s entirety, don’t pick and choose. Chart for at least 3 cycles and feel confident in your observations and charting before having unprotected intercourse. The two most common ways to self-teach are by reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility or the Sensiplan Manual. You can also join and post your charts in the FAM BC Facebook Group, which is a volunteer-run group.
Work with an instructor
Working with a certified fertility awareness educator streamlines the learning process and helps you feel confident and start using FAM for birth control faster. I also recommend working with an instructor if you’re someone who experiences irregular cycles (like in the case of PCOS) or you’re wanting to use FAM for birth control during postpartum.
Working with an instructor also means that you have someone you can message or chat with whenever a question arises, and they’re able to review your charts for you so you can be sure you’re using the method correctly. A certified instructor will be able to help you navigate challenging situations that arise in the reproductive continuum and will teach you everything you never learned in sex ed!
Choosing an instructor comes down to a few things:
Personal preference and fit
What method they’re certified in
Whether they have a religious affiliation or teach from a secular standpoint
No matter which route you choose, you’ll need to think about using additional non-hormonal methods for contraception before trusting FAM for unprotected intercourse. These methods you’ll need to use all the time until you’ve got FAM down pat.
ready to start charting for birth control?
Take the free FAM Fundamentals course