Avoiding pregnancy

For me, cycle tracking (or menstrual cycle awareness) is so much more than a way to avoid pregnancy - or to get pregnant - but, for so many people, they tend to be the only two reasons to even consider it.

Myself included - once upon a time.

I’ve spoken before about how infrequently (if ever) cycle tracking is offered as a contraceptive method in a health setting.

In my Menstrual Magic course, I share my own story which involves 15 years of taking the pill and a 45 minute (yes, 45 minutes of my vagina being raked around in - not as pleasant as it might sound) botched coil fitting.

So I also started tracking my cycle as a contraceptive method.

All I cared about was:

When can I potentially get pregnant?
When can I have sex without risking an unwanted pregnancy?

Questions I hear echoed again and again whenever I have conversations around cycle tracking. Especially for people who are looking for hormone-free options…

Technically, ovulation (the time when you are fertile) is only one day out of your whole cycle.

HOWEVER

Sperm can survive for between 5-7 days in the reproductive tract meaning that there is also a possibility for you to get pregnant in the 7 days leading up to ovulation.

Ovulation happens at a different time for each person depending on your own individual cycle.

You CAN get pregnant on your period IF you have a short cycle as the time between your period and ovulation is also shorter. For example; if you ovulate on Day 10 of your cycle and you are still on your period on Day 5 of your cycle - there is a possibility that you would be able to get pregnant on day 3, 4 and 5 of your period.

If you naturally have a longer cycle where you don’t ovulate until Day 14 onwards, it is less likely that you would be able to get pregnant on your period.

So how do we know when we are ovulating?

That’s where the cycle tracking part comes in.

Once you have tracked your cycle for a minimum of three cycles, you should start to figure out what is regular for you. From there, it will be easier to understand when ovulation is likely to be happening and then there are other physical and emotional signs and symptoms that can indicate ovulation has occured. For example; mood changes, cervical fluid will become slippery like egg whites…

What is really important to remember is that no method of contraception is 100% effective - even when used 100% correctly.

The difference with cycle tracking is that it is much more personalised to what is happening for you in your own body. It helps you to understand yourself so that you can be in tune with your own individual wants, needs and desires as your cycle fluctuates.

To be even more thorough, there are additional measures that you can take such as tracking your basal body temperature with a thermometer every morning or even using ovulation strips to track your luteinising hormone - which is released just before ovulation. These are, however, quite expensive and more often used for getting pregnant rather than avoiding pregnancy.

For more information on cycle tracking and how to work with your cycle to avoid pregnancy and improve your quality of life, join the online Menstrual Magic course or get the course for free with 1:1 support.

It really has changed my life and I can almost guarantee that this knowledge will change yours too.