Charting BBT (basil body temperature) for Birth control?

Health & Medical Other Health & Medical
1

O.k. so I have never been a fan of drugs or medicine. But have falling into the trap for birth control. As of 3 months ago I was more then comfortable with taking birth control pill and had been on the Mirena. After finding out I was pregnant on the Mirena and miscarrying I have decided that I am now done with taking any hormone birth controls.

My husband is more then willing to get snipped but not just yet. We are still young; 25, and have two children. I just don't want to go the route of hormonal contraceptive; and because of the "mirena" IUD not working I am worried about the Cooper IUD. So I have been researching charting BBT and it seems like it is something that will work. My husband wants 5 years of (maybe I do want another child but just not yet!!) before he gets snipped! That being said the Basil Body Temperature charting is only like 20% effective so there is a chance we would have another which wouldn't be the end of the world if it was "unplanned". But at least this would give us a few years to make that decision if it isn't made for us.

So have any of you tried this way? Are you currently charting BBT for BC and liking it? Any tips on doing this? Any other methods that are drug free for BC? Any info at all will be more then welcome.

2

check out "Taking Charge of your Fertility". It will tell you all about the charting method - how to do it, how to use it:

http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Your-Fertility-Reproductive/dp/0060937645

3

Many things can effect your temperature, so that's not as foolproof as one might hope. Barrier birthcontrol methods have a pretty high success rate as long as you use them. They would include the diaphram, the contracept sponge (Today was the brand) and condoms. Again, the key to their success is use. While the pill and other forms of hormone based treatments are highly effective, antibiotics and some foods can diminish their effectiveness. Talk with your ob/gyn. Your husband is a wise man, you are fairly young yet for the permanent solution of a vasectomy.

4

I agree with the first post, get the book "Taking Charge of your Fertility." You need to chart more than just your temp. It teaches you how to figure your body out and how to chart your temp, cervical mucus, and things in your life that affect your temp and ovulation time. Really great information and easily done. :-)

5

Have you discussed/considered using a condom during your "fertile" days?

6

I agree that Taking Charge of Your Fertility_ is an excellent resource. Once you figure out when you're ovulating, give yourself a wide berth around your fertile period, and either abstain or use a condom during that time.

It's important to use another method of birth control, such as a condom, for at least the first few months while you are learning your hormone-free cycle, mostly all the time. Just because you ovulate on Day 12 one month does not guarantee you won't ovulate on Day 10 the following month. Sperm can survive inside you for 5 days without tremendous difficulty. Potentially even 7 days, believe it or not. That means you need to act as if you're fertile 5-7 days before you yourself ARE fertile, because your husband's fertility can hang around and wait! Thus, you need several months worth of data to understand your range of fertile days. If you become certain that you've ovulated, then you can forgo protection beginning 48 hours after that (the max that an ovum will survive), until Day 1 of your next cycle.

Personally, I recommend, if you really really don't want to get pregnant, to use condoms (or abstention) during your fertile period, rather than a diaphragm or cervical cap. The latter methods are only something in the neighborhood of 85% effective if used correctly (which is not the smallest "if"), whereas condoms are something like 97-99% effective, again only if used correctly. Don't quote me on exact numbers, as this is off the top of my head, but they're directionally in the right ballpark.

After a couple years of charting your cycles, you can decide to go to a modified calendar method, which involves a calculation that is based on knowing your earliest possible and latest possible ovulation days. But I'll tell you that one in a couple years so you won't be tempted to jump to it :) ha.

It's very empowering to learn how your body works, and I highly recommend this method to women who are really committed to learn, especially as it frees us from contraceptive hormones (which are implicated, unfortunately, as a risk factor in a number of diseases). It does take a commitment to learn and chart, and I recommend avoiding any shortcuts. It works well if you've taken the responsibility to get to know your body. I've used it myself successfully for 7 years.

On another note, there are hormone-free IUDs, which you might want to consider. If you email me privately, I'd be willing to look up their efficacy rate and get back to you.

Best wishes!
Deborah
(a Seattle ND)

7

I've read the other posts and agree with using the book mentioned. We used FAM method successfully for two years before having our first child. I've gotten lazy about it now... still not on birth control but not good at charting. My cycle is fixed enough that I just keep track of my periods and use condoms any time I'm worried.

I think this is a good choice. If nothing else, learning our cycle is good. If you have any daughters, you will be able to educate them so much more with this info. (Even your sons!). My husband really got into it too. He would keep track in his head pretty well and I don't think I could have tricked him into getting pregnant before he was ready.

When we were really NOT ready for a baby we would play around but not have true intercourse even with a condom. Like she says in the book... if a method will fail, it will fail when you are fertile. So if the condom breaks and you are ovulating the chances are super high that you will get pregnant. As we got closer to wanting to start, we loosened up a little and used condoms.