I swear I will scream the next time I hear...
"NFP [natural family planning] is only about 75% effective."
if you find yourself agreeing with this, I suggest you keep reaing, as you will certainly learn a thing or two today. (yes, another post on fertility. I do this every now and then...)
first off, if you'r thinking of the old "rhythm" method our gramas used when trying not to have kids, that statistic is prety close.. that was only about 73% effective. HOWEVER. rhythm was a far cry from what modern day NFP users are doing. the ONLY similarity is that they are both based on th idea that you won't get pregnant if you avoid sex on days you are fertile. how you determine those days is where the huge gaping difference comes in.
rhythm basically guessed at when you might be fertile based on your average cycle length. this is where the common myth comes in "NFP only works for those who are very regular" wrong. rhythm only worked for those who are very regular... NFP is not at all based on cycle length. it's a nice new very scientific method which is based entirely on the wonderful discovery that our bodies have very recognizable signs of fertility in the days preceeding and during ovulation. once you learn what these signs are (I won't gross you out with the details, you can read "taking charge of your fertility" for that), you know when you are fertile whether you've got a regular 28-day cycle or one that is different every month (as I had/have when not pregnant). it'a also almost impossible to overlook the signs, even when not particularly trying to keep track... with this knowledge, NFP can be as effective as any other method of birth control if not moreso. if practiced properly, there are only two (that I can think of) reasons one might get pregnant while using NFP:
1) your reasons for avoiding pregnancy are weak or arbitrary, so you "give in" more readily than if you had better founded reasons (which is really more of a last minute change of plans than a failure, since the couple would know going into the act that pregnancy was a high possibility at that time.)
2) you are drunk or asleep at the time of the act.
a third reason that would not apply to "being used properly":
3) you don't actually know it properly, and overlook present signs because you didn't know that was what you were supposed to be looking for.
so.. next time you feel compelled to roll your eyes at the idea of someone using NFP to avoid pregnancy, bear in mind they probably know a heck of a lot more about it than you do. and that you may in fact not know at all what you are talking about.
if you find yourself agreeing with this, I suggest you keep reaing, as you will certainly learn a thing or two today. (yes, another post on fertility. I do this every now and then...)
first off, if you'r thinking of the old "rhythm" method our gramas used when trying not to have kids, that statistic is prety close.. that was only about 73% effective. HOWEVER. rhythm was a far cry from what modern day NFP users are doing. the ONLY similarity is that they are both based on th idea that you won't get pregnant if you avoid sex on days you are fertile. how you determine those days is where the huge gaping difference comes in.
rhythm basically guessed at when you might be fertile based on your average cycle length. this is where the common myth comes in "NFP only works for those who are very regular" wrong. rhythm only worked for those who are very regular... NFP is not at all based on cycle length. it's a nice new very scientific method which is based entirely on the wonderful discovery that our bodies have very recognizable signs of fertility in the days preceeding and during ovulation. once you learn what these signs are (I won't gross you out with the details, you can read "taking charge of your fertility" for that), you know when you are fertile whether you've got a regular 28-day cycle or one that is different every month (as I had/have when not pregnant). it'a also almost impossible to overlook the signs, even when not particularly trying to keep track... with this knowledge, NFP can be as effective as any other method of birth control if not moreso. if practiced properly, there are only two (that I can think of) reasons one might get pregnant while using NFP:
1) your reasons for avoiding pregnancy are weak or arbitrary, so you "give in" more readily than if you had better founded reasons (which is really more of a last minute change of plans than a failure, since the couple would know going into the act that pregnancy was a high possibility at that time.)
2) you are drunk or asleep at the time of the act.
a third reason that would not apply to "being used properly":
3) you don't actually know it properly, and overlook present signs because you didn't know that was what you were supposed to be looking for.
so.. next time you feel compelled to roll your eyes at the idea of someone using NFP to avoid pregnancy, bear in mind they probably know a heck of a lot more about it than you do. and that you may in fact not know at all what you are talking about.