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Chatelaine
Magazine, (June, 1999) |
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Many
women leave decisions about their reproductive parts up to the gynecologist.
But you can learn a lot about your reproductive health by practicing fertility
awareness long before you’re ready to get pregnant. To
get pregnant, you need to have sex at the right time – either the
days before or the day of ovulation. When an egg is released during ovulation,
it lasts an average of just 12 hours. Pregnancy seems impossible by this
count, but the sperm’s hardy five-day life span makes your fertile
period longer. You can pinpoint those days exactly by becoming a meteorologist
of your body and learning to read its signs. There
are three primary methods of fertility awareness and all involve keeping
precise records over several months. Because each can have some discrepancies,
experts advise using a combination. Debbie Garshon, a counselor at Planned
Parenthood of Toronto, also warns that the following methods work primarily
for women with regular periods, but they won’t work if you’re
close to menopause, just starting menstruation or have irregular periods. The
temperature method involves checking your basal body temperature with
a special thermometer that can measure temperatures in minute increments
(it costs about $10, or up to 25 for a digital version, at drugstores).
You take your temperature upon waking every day and chart the changes.
Your temperature surges – between one-half and one degree –
when you ovulate. So, after a few months, you’ll know when to expect
the surge and can plan intercourse for the few days preceding. Remember
that sickness, stress, lack of sleep or even alcohol can change your temperature.
Sample charts, available from your doctor or books such as Taking Charge
of Your Fertility (Harper Collins) by Toni Weschler, can make the graphing
easier. The
calendar method counts the days of your cycle from the first day of your
period to the day before your next. For example, if this number is 26,
subtract 14, which leaves day 12. This is the "peak day" and
you could release the egg for three days afterward. Fertility may also
be high five days before the peak day. So days 7 to 15 would be the most
fertile. The
cervical mucus method monitors the texture of cervical discharge daily
to predict ovulation. Just prior to ovulation, gland secretions in the
vagina are clear and plentiful and resemble the stretchy viscous texture
of egg white – one of the most obvious signs of fertility. Tia Sarkar,
co-owner of the Justisse Group in Toronto, which teaches fertility awareness
and produces a guidebook, explains: "Unlike rhythm methods, which
use retrospective information, this method supplies day-by-day information."
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