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Fertility Awareness Method for Natural Birth Control, Natural Conception, and Body Literacy. Colleen Flowers loves teaching individuals and couples about their reproductive health and fertility from a natural & holistic perspective!
Avishag Zloof is a Naturopath Doctor specializing in Fertility & Sexual Function and also teaches the Sympto-Thermal Fertility Awareness Method (STFAM).
In this video she describes the “personality" of the female reproductive hormones: estrogen, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and progesterone. I just LOVE how she makes these usually boring and scientific hormones come alive!
An viable alternative to hormonal contraception is the Sympto-Thermal Fertility Awareness Method (STFAM). I recently discussed the side-effects of synthetic hormones used in contraception like the Pill when I celebrated my 100th Fertility Awareness Method chart.
I love teaching more and more women how to avoid pregnancy naturally! We can meet one-on-one or at my next class on Thursday, July 18 at 6pm. Register at Blossom Wellness Center by calling 303-954-9399 ($40/person, $50/couple).
If you’re new to learning the Fertility Awareness Method to avoid pregnancy, I recommend that during the first 2 or 3 cycles of charting that you abstain or use male condoms until you can confidently (and accurately!) identify your fertile days and infertile days.
If you’ve never used condoms before… or it’s been awhile… or just to make sure you’re following each and every step correctly, this video by a National AIDS Fund AmeriCorps member is great!
There are 2 things I would add to the end of the video. First, when withdrawing the penis after ejaculation… hold the bottom of the condom so that semen doesn’t leak out onto her vulva. Second, when removing the condom from the penis… do it far, far away from her vulva (like on the other side of the bed or in the bathroom) so that semen doesn’t drip on it. Condom effectiveness will be lowered if any semen comes in contact with her vulva!
Want to know more about condoms or avoiding pregnancy without hormones or devices? Come to my next Natural Birth Control class on Thursday, July 18 at Blossom Wellness Center.
Did you know Flowers Fertility, LLC is on Facebook? I think it’s really fun to interact with like-minded women both locally, nationally, and globally about charting cycles using the Fertility Awareness Method!
Today I got my 99th like… who wants to be that special 100?!?
Yay! The iPhone app, Kindara, that uses the Fertility Awareness Method is getting great press here in Denver, Colorado on FOX31 News. I’m thrilled to see a media piece that gives such a positive and accurate report :)
WHAT: “Avoiding Pregnancy without Hormones or Devices" Class
WHEN: Saturday, June 1 at 9:30am
WHERE: Blossom Wellness Center
WHO: Ladies & Couples who want high effectiveness with no side-effects
HOW: Call 303-954-9399 to register by Thursday, May 30
While there are many, very “important" uses for charting your cycle using the Fertility Awareness Method such as avoiding pregnancy or achieving pregnancy, it can also be as simple as, “I know when to expect my period!"
This can bring quite a feeling of freedom. No longer will you wonder, “Oh, is that my period?!?" and then a few days later “Oh, wait, is this my period?" If you chart your cycle, you’ll know about 2 weeks beforehand when your period will start, and then usually you’ll know the morning of the day it will start. Pretty cool, huh?
Knowledge is Power! (Or at least knowledge won’t leave you high & dry without a pad/tampon/menstrual cup when you most need it…)
I’m currently in the middle of my 100th Fertility Awareness Method chart… pretty cool, huh? So that means for over 6 years I’ve avoided getting pregnant without any synthetic hormones and their lovely side-effects!
The American Academy of Family Physicians lists the “non-serious" side-effects (but may include more):
So what can be the “serious" side-effects be according the FDA?
On Saturday, June 1st I’ll be teaching a class about how to avoid getting pregnant naturally… sign up at Blossom Wellness Center and you could be well on your way to your 100th Fertility Awareness Method chart too!
We had a lot of fun in my “Natural Birth Control using the Fertility Awareness Method" class last night. Two of those in attendance included a Registered Nurse and a Student Nurse Midwife… they LOVED the class (and said they learned so much!) :)
Usually learning about the cervix and the different types of cervical fluid it makes is what most women find to be the most fascinating information of the class. I don’t discuss ALL the various types of cervical fluid and their individual functions as is described here (information overload!), but we do cover the basics. And the basics are mind blowing!
Can’t make it to one of my classes? Then get your hands on Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler!
When a woman charts her cycles using the Fertility Awareness Method, she’ll rarely need to use OPK’s (Ovulation Predictor Kits). Why?
Well, if she’s trying to AVOID pregnancy, these little strips aren’t designed for that, so she shouldn’t use them… EVER!
And if she’s trying to ACHIEVE pregnancy, the class she took with a qualified Fertility Awareness Educator and her cycle’s chart will usually give her all the information she needs.
OPKs are looking for a hormone called LH that “usually" makes its debut 24 hours-ish before ovulation occurs. Having a positive OPK just means that she “might" ovulate, but doesn’t mean that ovulation took place. While they can be helpful for some women who are TTC, OPKs can also be frustrating if they’re not used correctly. These are some other reasons I’m not the biggest fan of them:
If you want more information about interpreting your OPK results or (better yet!) want to learn more about your body using the Fertility Awareness Method, contact me for information about upcoming classes or to schedule a private consultation!
It’s Earth Day 2013! And “What’s the ‘greenest’ birth control" you ask? Abstinence! (Okay, well… aside from abstinence?) The Fertility Awareness Method!
Charting your cycles is eco-friendly because:
There’s no packaging! (aside from your thermometer and paper charts if you use them)
It’s hormone-free… the same way we like our dairy and meat to be hormone-free! (And fish and reptiles appreciate less Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in the water too.)
It’s highly-effective! The perfect-use effectiveness is 99.6% and typical-use effectiveness is 98.2%. (http://tiny.cc/opsk6)
While it doesn’t offer any protection against STIs like condoms can, I believe the Fertility Awareness Method to be a ‘greener’ choice than all the other choices out there.
Learn how to “green your birth control" at the Natural Birth Control class I’m teaching next Tuesday, April 30 at 6pm (www.BlossomWellnessCenter.com).
Photo from http://allinadayswork.wikispaces.com/file/view/world_in_hand.jpg/295033766/337x287/world_in_hand.jpg
Kindara is an iPhone app that is based in Boulder, CO. They offer women who are charting their cycles using the Fertility Awareness Method a way to enter and record their fertility data. Right now Kindara is in the process of improving the app using a focus group and want YOUR help!
Interested? Follow these links if you’re trying to get pregnant or if you’re trying to avoid pregnancy.
Acronyms… love them or hate them… they’re EVERYWHERE! When clients email me questions about their cycles and Fertility Awareness Method charts, I’ve seen much of the lingo below. (And I totally confess that sometimes I’ve had to Google the acronym to find out what it means before I email them back!)
Fertility Awareness Method Charting Specifics:
GYN (gynecological) Specifics:
Getting Pregnant Specifics:
Extras:
Did I miss any??? Comment below with ones you’ve found that aren’t on this list!
Many women have already learned about and use the Fertility Awareness Method to avoid pregnancy naturally. For those who have no idea what it is… your mind will be blown!
You can scientifically rely on the signs that your body gives you throughout your cycle to let you know when you’re fertile and not fertile. To attain the highest effectiveness (up to 99.6%) it’s recommended you chart your cycle for 3 months before using it to avoid pregnancy, meet with a qualified teacher 2-3 times during that time to answer your questions and interpret your signs and chart, and be MOTIVATED to avoid pregnancy :)
I’ll be teaching a class at Blossom Wellness Center (a part of Mountain Midwifery Center) on Tuesday, April 30 at 6pm. It’s $40/person or $50/couple and you can register by calling 303-954-9399.
When women chart their fertility signs using the Fertility Awareness Method, we’ve already learned from a recent blog post "Why Cervical Fluid is #1!"
Taking her basal body temperature first thing in the morning usually lets a woman know if she has or hasn’t ovulated yet. It doesn’t tell her if her fertile time has started (which is VERY important) but it can tell her that her fertile time has ended (another important factor). If she’s trying to get pregnant and she sees her temp has gone up, it’s often too late to have sex for conception. If she’s avoiding pregnancy, she’s fertile for the 5 or so days BEFORE her temp goes up… and there’s no way to predict the future!
Also, getting accurate morning temperatures is of the utmost importance. If her temps are inaccurate (she slept in, drank alcohol the night before, got up to pee in the middle of the night, is coming down with a cold, etc.), then her chart is inaccurate. If her chart is inaccurate, then any information we try to extrapolate from it will probably be wrong.
Want to know more?!? Contact me… or better yet, come to a class!
In order to be certified to teach the Fertility Awareness Method, a teacher-in-training must teach women and meet with them regarding their charts, and then discuss all of this with her mentor. I am so grateful to all the women (and friends!) who were able to help me complete that requirement for my graduation.
My colleague, Allie Rowland, is currently in the process of teaching the Fertility Awareness Method to new clients as part of her training to be an HRHP through Justisse Healthworks for Women. She is offering a limited number of fully-reimbursed charting follow-up sessions in order to complete her certification requirements. That means she’ll reimburse you the $30 fee for the class if you complete three follow-up sessions with her (in the greater Boulder/Denver area).
Learn the Fertility Awareness Method for free?!? Yes please! You can contact her at allisonlockwoodrowland@gmail.com.
A woman in my Fertility Awareness Method for Natural Birth Control class a year ago had this same realization. One morning she was patting herself on the back for purchasing organic HORMONE-FREE milk as she drank it to swallow her birth control pill… which is FULL OF HORMONES.
She was thrilled to have found my class and never looked back!
It’s the first day of Spring!!! Are you over using synthetic hormones and/or devices to avoid a pregnancy?
The next Natural Birth Control class using the Fertility Awareness Method that I will be teaching is on Tuesday, March 26 at 6pm-8:30pm. It will be held at Blossom Wellness Center. $40/person, $50/couple. Call 303.954.9399 to register.
So… if you’re “charting" your cycle using the Fertility Awareness Method, “how" exactly do you chart it? The old-fashioned paper way (how I do it), the computer spreadsheet (that many of my clients use), or apps on your phone (which I normally don’t like).
I haven’t liked most of the phone apps because they try and PREDICT your cycle using the out-dated and very inaccurate Rhythm Method. The app will actually say that you are infertile or fertile on any given day (regardless of your fertility signs) and it could be totally accurate (a broken clock is right twice a day) or it could be way off… yikes!
Enter… Kindara. I like this iPhone app because it lets women enter the answer to the question, “Am I fertile today? Yes or no?" She decides her Peak Day; she decides her temp shift. And the people that work there (it’s based in Boulder, Colorado) are pretty awesome to boot!
Disclaimer - Pssst! I’m not a doctor. I’m an educator. So think of me like a book that can talk and provide you with some pretty awesome education about your reproductive health! Read more about Terms & Conditions…
Flowers Fertility, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to FlowersFertility.com.
