Similar to “natural family planning,” this practice combines checking your temperature, cervical mucus (liquid near the opening of your womb), and cervical position (the part of your womb that you can feel deep inside your vagina). These things need to be done everyday to see when you are ovulating. Unprotected intercourse (without contraception) must be avoided on your fertile days to prevent pregnancy.

You should not use fertility awareness method if:

• You do not want an unplanned pregnancy
• You have irregular periods (menstrual cycles)
• You cannot understand or track signs of ovulation everyday

The main risk of using this method is pregnancy.

• Takes extra time
• Requires a lot of education
• Difficult to use if you are not ovulating regularly, or you have a fever or a vaginal infection