Fertility awareness methods of contraception

[Julene]

Fertility awareness methods involve identifying which days a woman is likely to be fertile during her menstrual cycle. This information can be used to increase the chance of becoming pregnant or to prevent pregnancy.
When used to prevent pregnancy, these methods depend on abstinence from sexual intercourse during the woman’s fertile time of the month. In most women, the ovary releases an egg about 14 days before the start of a menstrual period. Although the unfertilized egg survives only about 12 hours, sperm can survive for as long as 5 days after intercourse. Consequently, fertilization can result from intercourse that occurred up to 5 days before ovulation (when the egg is released), as well as at ovulation.
There are several fertility awareness methods:

Calendar method
Mucus method
Symptothermal method

Each method tries to estimate when ovulation occurs and thus determine which days the woman is fertile. These methods require training, effort, and many steps to be effective.
The lactational amenorrhea method is another method. It can be used after delivery of a baby if a woman is breastfeeding. It can be very effective under certain circumstances.