1. Rhythm Method: Counting the Days
In the rhythm method, a women counts 14 days after her period and abstains from sex for about 3 days around this 14-day point. This assumes that all women ovulate on day 14 of their cycle (which they don't), and that sperm only lives inside a women's body for 3 days. Experts have found sperm can live inside a woman for up to 7 days. You can't use this method if you have an irregular cycle or a cycle that's longer or shorter than 28 days. It has about a 20% failure rate.
2. Ovulation Method: Keep Track of Your Cervical Mucus
With the ovulation method, women keep track of their cervical mucus. Wipe across the vagina with toilet paper or reach inside your vagina to find the cervical mucus. You can also note the mucus on your panty liner or your underwear, though this is a harder method. When your cervical mucus is clear and thin (like egg whites) you've ovulated, and the mucus is thin enough for sperm to swim up to meet the egg. When used by itself, this method has a 20% failure rate. You can combine this method with another type of natural birth control, usually the basal body temperature method to increase its effectiveness.
3. Basal Body Temperature Method: Take Your Temperature
To take your basal body temperature, you'll need a basal body temperature thermometer. Take your temperature at the same time every day (usually in the morning) for about a month. Note the changes in the temperature. After ovulation, when you're fertile, your body temperature rises about 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, remember eggs live in your body for about 24 hours and sperm can live in your body for up to 7 days, although 3 days is more common. The failure rate for this method ranges from 2% to 15%. Many women combine this technique with the cervical mucus method.
4. Standard Days: Use Cycle Beads
With standard days, a woman uses cycle beads to help her determine when she's fertile. She starts counting beads from day 1 of her period. When she hits the white beads, she's fertile and should abstain from sexual intercourse on days 8 through 19 of her cycle. This method's easy, but it does have a 5% to 12% failure rate. It also imposes a longer abstinence period for couples as compared to other methods.
5. Breastfeeding: The Oldest Natural Birth Control
In theory, as long as a woman is breastfeeding, she won't ovulate and can't become pregnant. While exclusively breastfeeding does decrease the chance that you'll ovulate, it doesn't always prevent pregnancy. In addition, in the United States, few women breastfeed exclusively; many women use formula and pumped breastmilk, and these practices can neutralize breastfeeding as a birth control method.
