NDSU Student Health Service
Choices Program

Your Reproductive Health - Natural Family Planning

 

Fertility Awareness and Natural Family Planning

Fertility Awareness, also called Natural Family Planning, allows a woman to use the body's natural signs of fertility as a guide to predict ovulation and determine her risk of pregnancy at different times throughout her monthly menstrual cycle. By recognizing the signs which occur prior to, during, and after ovulation, a woman and her partner may choose to abstain or use a barrier method during the high risk days of the menstrual cycle.

Body signs that help monitor ovulation include basal body temperature, texture of cervical mucus, and changes in the cervix itself. These must be recorded on a graph to identify the subtle signs that occur and change throughout the month.

It is recommended that couples attend special classes to learn how to utilize this as a method of birth control. These classes are sometimes offered by various religious organizations. There are also many books written on the subject.