Debunking Five Myths About Fertility Awareness Methods

If you think fertility awareness methods are just a modern twist on the outdated rhythm method that your grandma used, think again! Today, I’m going to bust five common myths and misconceptions about fertility awareness methods that hold so many women back from using these empowering tools to take charge of their health and fertility. So let’s get started! 

Myth 1: Fertility Awareness Methods Are Just the Rhythm Method

False! Fertility awareness methods are based in modern science with new advances.

The rhythm method was created way back in 1930, almost 100 years ago. The rhythm method relies on counting days and, quite honestly, kind of guessing when your fertile days are. The rhythm method is based on the assumption that you have a normal cycle every month, meaning your cycle is 28 days long and you ovulate on day 14 every cycle.

But the truth is most women will not ovulate on day 14 every single cycle. Women who have normal 28 day cycles will only ovulate on day 14 about 30-40% of the time. So you can see how the rhythm method would not be a very effective method to utilize if your intention is to avoid a pregnancy.

Modern fertility awareness methods, on the other hand, rely on many different daily biomarkers, like tracking your cervical mucus, basal body temperature, and hormone urinary metabolites, to pinpoint in real time what's actually going on with your fertility. You are observing and analyzing your biomarkers every day – not just counting days on a calendar. There are many newer methods that have decades of research behind them. These methods – Billings, Creighton, NeoFertility, FEMM, Sympto-Thermal – break down reproductive physiology and use objective data in real time to meet the needs of each individual using them.

Fertility awareness methods are not a one-size-fits-all, and they are not outdated guesswork. You can choose an evidence-based method that works for you. 

Myth 2: Fertility Awareness Methods Are Ineffective at Preventing Pregnancy 

False! Fertility awareness methods are highly effective when used properly and even better than oral birth control pills in most cases. 

Another common misconception is that these methods are unreliable and ineffective compared to other forms of contraception. Unfortunately, I will have to take part of the blame for this on behalf of the medical profession. Many of us are taught in medical school that fertility awareness methods are the same as the rhythm method and are very ineffective. In fact, we know the rhythm method has been shown to be only about 70% effective at preventing pregnancy. This means that even if you're following the guidelines for this method, about 30% of the time you're going to get pregnant when you weren't intending to. Because medical schools equate fertility awareness methods with the rhythm method, this is the education doctors receive and therefore that’s the education they pass on to their patients.  

But the reality is that modern methods are very, very effective at preventing pregnancy. Many of them approach an effectiveness rate of about 95% to 99% for preventing pregnancy, if that's your intention to do so. For comparison, the oral birth control pill is about 95% effective at pregnancy prevention with perfect use, meaning you're taking it at exact the same time every day.  

I do want to point out that – regardless of method – there is perfect use, typical use, inconsistent use, and incorrect use. You may have people in your life who say they’re using a fertility awareness method but are not actually following the guidelines or making daily observations. This does not mean the method itself is ineffective.

Let’s compare typical use and perfect use. Perfect use would mean the woman is making 100% of her observations and the couple is acting in accordance with the guidelines for their intended outcome (to achieve or avoid a pregnancy this cycle). Perfect use of these methods is up to 99% effective. Typical use, meaning the average person using one of these methods who maybe doesn’t make complete observations every day, is about 88-89%.

One of the other big wins that we've had in the past few decades is femtech apps and other resources to help women to track their cycles consistently and accurately, which also will reduce errors. 

I want to make one final note about effectiveness rates. Often medical studies looking at women utilizing fertility awareness methods don't take into account if a woman was using the method that particular cycle to avoid a pregnancy or to conceive. This then makes it really difficult for a research study to track what the actual intention of the user was and if they achieved their outcome (was it effective?). If someone is on hormonal birth control, on the other hand, the intention is to avoid pregnancy every single cycle. One of the beautiful things about fertility awareness methods is that you can change your intention from cycle to cycle. If a research study doesn't take intention into account, it can actually make effectiveness numbers look a whole lot worse, which is often why we see the research is skewed in favor of saying fertility awareness methods may not be effective.  

You now know fertility awareness methods can be highly effective when used correctly, even surpassing the efficacy of oral birth control pills. This empowers women to either try to avoid a pregnancy or try to conceive naturally each cycle with confidence.  

Myth 3: Fertility Awareness Methods Are Only for Avoiding Pregnancy

False! Fertility awareness methods can be used as tools for health, fertility, and solving problems for other menstrual concerns. 

Many couples do learn a fertility awareness method to avoid pregnancy, but that's only one part of the story. Specifically in the world of restorative reproductive medicine, we use fertility awareness methods to help women conceive by identifying the most fertile days in their cycle. This becomes incredibly useful for couples who may be struggling with subfertility or just trying to time things appropriately. 

Another great use for fertility awareness methods is monitoring your health. Your menstrual cycle is considered the fifth vital sign, and ovulation is a sign of health. Observing your biomarkers provides insights into your overall health. Things like irregular cycles, hormone imbalances, thyroid issues, and other conditions like PCOS can all be evaluated and determined through charting your cycles with a fertility awareness method. 

In fact, I have a story about a client we recently saw who came to us just for charting instruction. She wanted to know how to track her cycles because she thought it was interesting. One of the things her charting instructor discovered was she actually had a really short luteal phase. Now, if this client had just been looking at the length of her cycles from one menstrual period to the next, she was at 30 days, which is normal. However, once she was able to identify when she ovulated, which was later in her cycle, she found her luteal phase (the time between ovulation and the start of your period) was too short – only seven or eight days. A short luteal phase can increase the chance of miscarriage, so by identifying this early on, she was able to see me for medical evaluation and treatment. We were able to manage her luteal phase and extend it to a normal length. So when she did eventually go on to conceive, she didn't have to worry about miscarriage because we had already corrected the underlying abnormality.

Fertility awareness methods are not just for avoiding pregnancy. They can be a powerful tool to understand your body, to try to conceive, and even to uncover underlying health conditions completely separate from fertility.  

Myth 4: Fertility Awareness Methods Are Too Complicated or Inconvenient

False! Fertility awareness methods can be simple with the right support. There is a learning curve, but you can get to the point of having less than one minute of observations daily. 

Many people believe that fertility awareness methods are too hard to learn or they require too much effort or time for the average person. I will admit there is a learning curve upfront. However, many of the methods have certified instructors, online courses, apps, books, guides, all sorts of things to guide a woman and a couple as far as how to utilize these fertility awareness methods effectively. Once these systems are learned, most fertility awareness methods take less than a few minutes each day to track the biomarkers like cervical mucus or basal body temperature.

Fertility awareness methods can be tailored to fit the needs of any woman, whether you are a working professional, a busy mom, a high school or college age student, or anywhere along the spectrum. You can learn how to fit this into your daily habits! 

The other amazing thing about fertility awareness methods is it does not depend upon what level of health literacy you have, or even if you are able to read or write. If you can learn how to make an observation of your own body, then you can learn a fertility awareness method. 

The last point I'd like to make here is if we look at the cost comparison of learning a fertility awareness method versus the long-term use of either contraceptives or fertility treatments like IVF,  then overall, fertility awareness methods are far less expensive in the long run. Plus, we're able to minimize side effects that can come from these other uses like contraception or artificial reproductive technologies. 

Fertility awareness methods are accessible, they are simple, and they can be adapted to any lifestyle. With the right resources, training, and time, it can become second nature to make these observations.  

Myth 5: Fertility Awareness Methods Can't Work for Women with Irregular Cycles

False! Different fertility awareness methods can be adaptable to any cycle pattern. 

We often hear that women with irregular cycles think fertility awareness methods are not an option for them. Maybe they tried an app that just didn't seem to time things appropriately. But so many of these apps are based on the rhythm method, which assumes you have a regular 28 day cycle.  

However, just because you have irregular cycles does not mean that your fertility, your biomarkers, and your ovulation are not able to be tracked. In fact, biomarkers like cervical mucus and hormone testing work regardless of your cycle length or regularity!  Conditions like PCOS, thyroid imbalance, breastfeeding, amenorrhea, irregular cycles – all of these can be accommodated by fertility awareness methods. Modern fertility awareness methods are flexible and responsive to each woman's unique cycle patterns. 

A woman with irregular cycles may find great benefit from using a method like NeoFertility or Creighton to track cervical mucus. She could utilize the Marquette method or a SymptoThermal method or FEMM to add in an extra layer of information with either hormone testing via urine strips or basal body temperature to identify what exactly is going on with her cycles. 

So there is always a fertility awareness method out there that can work for you, but it doesn't mean that all of the methods are going to work equally. Even with irregular cycles, fertility awareness methods can empower you to track your fertility and your health very effectively. 

If you've been hesitant to explore fertility awareness methods or you want to learn more about how they can transform your health and fertility, schedule a free discovery call with me today!