NFP & FAM – Are They REAL Methods Part I
I found during the day and evening. Cervical fluid, for those women not on hormonal birth control methods, changes from watery during your period, to dry or non-existent, and continues to change and become more abundant, clearer and "wetter" as ovulation approaches. The most fertile cervical fluid resembles egg whites and is referred to as "Egg White Cervical Mucus" or EWCM. This provides the best environment for sperm and allows them to swim freely and live for the longest period of time.
Obviously, if pregnancy is to be avoided, this would be the worst time to have unprotected sex. And that is the basic idea behind Natural Family Planning; you do not have sex if the woman is entering, or during her 'fertile phase'. Once ovulation is confirmed by the increase in basal body temperature, and the temperature stays up .5 degrees for four days, the fertile phase has ended and ovulation has taken place. Sex after ovulation has been confirmed is safe.
Although this is a fairly simple explanation and you could not start practicing NFP just from reading this article, it should give you enough of an idea to decide if it is a method that you would want to learn and if it would work for you, and your partner. The main thing to remember is that when you are first learning NFP, you cannot use a hormonal birth control method. You must rely on a barrier method for your birth control, but we will talk about this further in the next article about the Fertility Awareness Method.
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