What are Fertility Awareness Methods (FAM)?
A woman is fertile (able to get pregnant) only for a rather short time during each menstrual cycle. For most of the cycle, she should be infertile (not able to get pregnant). A woman or couple may learn how to tell fertile days from infertile days by checking the woman’s bodily signs daily and keeping a chart of the changes. FAM consist of those methods used by women to estimate the time of month they are most fertile (about seven days in length) this is the time when you could get pregnant. Some women choose to avoid sexual intercourse during the time of the month when they are most likely to become pregnant. This is called periodic abstinence. Other women choose to use one or more contraceptive methods during their fertile time. FAMs are named after the method a woman uses to recognize her fertile days. These include: Natural family planning, Sympto-Thermal Method, Ovulation method, Mucus/Temperature and/or Rhythm.
