The days when only women took care of contraception are long gone. Every modern man no longer leaves the safety of sex to the woman alone. This is not only important to protect yourself from unplanned offspring, but also to prove to your partner that you don't give a damn about her health and family planning.
More and more women say "no" to the pill. Why? Because the small tablet has strong side effects. Did you know, for example, that many women have less desire for sex because of the pill? Although most women still like to take the matter of contraception into their own hands, the majority welcomes it when the partner "interferes". Means: you do something for the relationship when you talk openly with your loved one about alternative contraceptive methods.
What is natural contraception?
Natural contraception means contraception without hormones. There are different methods, which you will learn about in this article. Basically, with natural contraception, the woman determines her fertile and infertile days. Because: A woman can get pregnant on only about 6 days of her cycle – about 5 days before ovulation and on the day of ovulation. So if you don't have sex on these days, you significantly reduce the risk of pregnancy.
Advantages of natural contraception
The biggest advantage: the woman does without side effects of the pill. In addition, she develops a better sense of her body and can even increase her self-confidence. For the man this means: he feels more connected to the partner and benefits not infrequently case of better sex.
Disadvantages of natural contraception
Natural Contraception requires discipline and the will to deal with one's own body. Usually it takes a while until the woman can narrow down her fertile days. To do this, you first need to observe and record a few cycles.
What are natural contraceptives?
Natural contraceptives are all those methods that do not use hormones or involve any intervention in the body.
Why more and more women use natural contraception
There are women who take the pill for decades without knowing how it affects their body. Many are prescribed it at their first visit to the gynecologist. Not only for contraceptive reasons, but also, for example, to treat acne. But very few people know what side effects the little tablet can bring with it.
The most common side effects of the pill include:
- Loss of libido
- Vaginal dryness
- Nausea
- flatulence
- depressive moods
- headaches
- Weight gain
Only late in life do many women realize that they have been taking chemicals for years, thus upsetting their natural hormone balance, and would like to do without them from now on.
How safe is natural contraception?
Now comes a small damper: natural contraception is more unsafe than taking hormonal preparations. This is mainly due to the fact that safety depends on lifestyle habits, which influence the cycle. For example, certain medications, fever, stress, alcohol consumption, lack of sleep or the time difference when traveling make natural contraception less reliable.
What natural contraceptives are available?
There are different methods of natural contraception, which can also be very well supplemented – then they have a higher security.
Contraceptive method #1: the calendar method
The calendar method, also called the Knaus-Ogino method or the rhythm method, is the simplest natural method of contraception. However, it is also not very safe. First, the woman keeps a record of at least 6 cycles. The cycle is not always the same length. To calculate her fertile days, she subtracts 11 days from the longest cycle (e.g. 32 days) and 18 days from the shortest (e.g. 26). Using the example numbers, the range between day 8 of the cycle and day 21 of the cycle is thus calculated as the fertile period from. Sex in this example should only be from the 22nd day. day until the 7th day. day of the next cycle can be performed.
Contraceptive method #2: the basal body temperature method
With the temperature method, the woman measures her body temperature in her mouth, vagina or anus every morning after waking up. This is how she can determine her fertile days. Because the body temperature drops by at least 0.2 °C shortly before ovulation and rises by about 0.5 °C after ovulation. The woman enters the daily data into a table, which she can use to monitor the course of her cycle. If the method is used consistently over a longer period of time, it is considered relatively safe. However, alcohol, lack of sleep or medication can affect body temperature.
Women who do not want to take and record their temperature every morning can help themselves with a cycle tracker, for example. Special wristbands (for example, Ava fertility tracker 2.0, around 300 euros, via www.avawomen.com) measure body temperature and sleep duration during sleep. It is also possible to enter individual inputs (for example, alcohol consumption, stress, illness or consistency of cervical mucus). The bracelet uses the data to calculate the fertile days and displays them in a progress chart in the associated app.
Contraceptive method #3: the Billings method
On fertile days, the cervix produces mucus that can be drawn into threads between the fingers. Shortly before ovulation the mucus becomes "spinnable. After ovulation, the cervical mucus becomes less and is less liquid. In order to determine the time of ovulation, the woman observes the mucus consistency every day. This method requires a lot of practice and is not very safe.
Contraceptive method #4: the symptothermal method
Symptothermal method (STM) combines the basal body temperature method with the Billings method (cervical mucus method). This combination provides a higher level of safety than the methods used alone on their own.
Contraceptive method #5: Contraceptive computer
Contraceptive computers (for example, Persona) measure hormone levels in urine. The woman enters the beginning and course of her period into the computer each month, and the device determines the cycle in this way. On critical days, the computer requires the woman to wet a test strip with urine. Based on the concentration of the hormones estrogen and LH in the woman's urine, the computer recognizes whether sex is safe (green light) or unsafe (red light). The longer the device is used, the less red days the device shows.
Contraceptive method #6: the barrier method
To prevent the male sperm cell from fertilizing the female egg cell, the barrier method can also be used. Thereby the sperm access is blocked so to speak. This works classically by condom, but also by diaphragm, spermicide or a copper IUD.
Are there also natural contraceptive methods for men?
Sure, condoms or spermicides, but the latter should always be used in combination with another barrier method.
Conclusion: Many roads lead past Rome
Many hormone-free contraceptive methods now offer a high level of protection against unwanted pregnancy – as long as contraception is not treated stepmotherly. Many of the methods require the woman to deal with her cycle. The benefits from a better body image and avoids the side effects of hormonal contraception. For whom this lifestyle does not fit, it is better to use the pill or other hormonal contraceptive methods.
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