NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING

Fertility awareness helps you to recognise the fertile times and infertile times during the menstrual cycle (the time from the first day of a period until the day before the next period starts) so you can plan or avoid pregnancy.

You do this by observing signs or indicators each day of your menstrual cycle.

• Your body temperature when you wake up.
• Cervical secretions (cervical mucus)
• How long your menstrual cycle lasts.

Changes in these fertility indicators help to identify your fertile time.

Fertility devices work by monitoring changes in temperature, urine or saliva. In the UK, the main device available is Persona. This consists of a small handheld computerised monitor and a series or urine test sticks, which measure hormonal changes. Persona interprets these changes and can predict the fertile and infertile times of the menstrual cycle.

If you use Persona according to the instructions, it in 94% effective. This means that 6 women in 100 well get regnant in a year.

A number of new and different devices will become available during the next few years as research improves.