If by the age of 20-25 you (not without reason) considered yourself sexually literate, installed a spiral or picked up a hormonal contraceptive and calmed down, now two circumstances coincided: your gynecologist, clicking his tongue, said that “you need to take a break from the spiral”, or that “At your age, you have to be careful with hormones.” And just then, the daughter entered the puberty period – she needs to explain something to her … Well, let’s return to the studied material.
Over the past 20 years (and what is there, over the past 2000 years!) Information about natural methods of contraception has not changed significantly. Although high technology has invaded even this conservative area. What do we know?
calendar method
You can have sex “a week before your period and a week after”. This mode is more or less acceptable for adolescents, who sometimes meet in fits and starts. In a stable couple (especially if sex has already happened no more than twice a week), three weeks of complete abstinence is not a joy. But there is still no guarantee: against the background of hormonal instability (both in adolescence and after 40 years), early or late ovulation is possible – it is very easy to miscalculate.
Measurement of basal temperature
One of the proven old methods for determining ovulation. Every morning, upon waking up, without getting out of bed, you need to insert a thermometer (electronic, but preferably mercury) into the vagina or anus for five minutes. Every day, from the first day of the cycle, you should keep a record of the readings obtained and build a temperature curve. On the day of ovulation, due to a sharp jump in progesterone, the temperature rises by 0.5-0.7 degrees, which persists for one to two days. This method is justified if you are more interested in pregnancy than sex. For contraceptive purposes, this is pure masochism. Imagine that you abstain from sex for a couple of months in order to build and compare graphs, record temperature changes on the eve of ovulation, and then insert a thermometer into your rectum all your life before you allow your own husband to see you …
Assessment of cervical mucus
The rupture of the follicle with the release of the egg from it is always accompanied by certain changes in the female genital organs. Vaginal secretions and cervical mucus become more viscous, viscous … You have to be a very objective person to say to yourself: “Yes, today they have thickened – there will be no sex. And today they’re thin again, which means it’s possible. ” This method is not suitable for teenagers due to frivolity, for adult women – due to the danger of playing it safe and forever being left without sex. Not to mention the fact that by the age of 40 the nature of the discharge may change for other reasons.
Ovulation Tests
This is exactly the high technology that we talked about at the beginning. They are much less laborious than measuring temperature, and much more objective than palpation of mucus. The test determines the onset of ovulation in urine or saliva. And, theoretically, if ovulation is fixed, then you should refrain from sex for five to seven days … And it turns out that you should have abstained the day before for the same amount … Manufacturers honestly warn: this device is intended for pregnancy planning, it should not be perceived as a method of contraception!
Coitus interruptus (PPA)
The more often you have sex, the higher your risks. During sex, even before ejaculation, there is a slight release of seminal fluid – and, with good motor activity of spermatozoa, the probability of conception is high. For fertilization, as you know, you need only one sperm and one mature egg.
In addition, PPA does not have the best effect on men’s health. Regular use of this method can lead to atony of the prostate by slowing down the outflow of blood from the prostate gland. Ultimately, this can lead to erectile dysfunction.
Lactation
As long as you are breastfeeding, pregnancy will not occur. But if everything worked so clearly, where would the weather come from?
Lactational amenorrhea can be considered as one of the contraceptive methods. Due to the increase in prolactin levels, ovulation is suppressed. With exclusive breastfeeding on demand, the level of prolactin is kept at a stable level, providing a contraceptive effect. With a lack of breast milk, feeding by the hour, the introduction of “supplementary feeding” the method does not work! As a rule, women who give birth after the age of 35 have significantly lower prolactin levels than in earlier age categories – so they should not at all consider lactation as a method of natural contraception.
Age
Any gynecologist can remember a story when a woman “thought that her periods had stopped due to menopause,” but it turned out she was pregnant. Age, you know, is generally a very relative concept. And daughters need to know: the first ovulation occurs earlier than the first menstruation. Therefore, pregnancy before menarche is possible.
Photo: shutterstock.com, istockphoto.com
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