Rhythm method for natural family planning (2024)

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Overview

The rhythm method, also called the calendar method or the calendar rhythm method, is a form of natural family planning.

To use the rhythm method, you track your menstrual history to predict when you'll ovulate. This helps you determine when you're most likely to conceive.

If you're hoping to get pregnant, you can use the rhythm method to determine the best days to have sex. Similarly, if you're hoping to avoid pregnancy, you can use the rhythm method to determine which days to avoid unprotected sex.

Using the rhythm method for birth control requires careful record keeping and persistence. If you don't want to conceive, you and your partner must avoid having sex or use a barrier method of contraception during your fertile days each month.

Why it's done

The rhythm method can be used as a way to promote fertility or as a method of contraception, by helping you determine the best days to have or avoid unprotected sex. Some women choose to use the rhythm method if a complex medical history limits traditional birth control options, or for religious reasons.

Risks

The rhythm method is an inexpensive and safe way to help you chart your fertility — the time of month when you're most likely to be able to get pregnant.

Using the rhythm method as a form of birth control doesn't pose any direct risks. However, it's considered one of the least effective forms of birth control. How well the rhythm method works varies between couples. In general, as many as 24 out of 100 women who use natural family planning for birth control become pregnant the first year.

The rhythm method doesn't protect you from sexually transmitted infections.

How you prepare

Tracking your menstrual history doesn't require special preparation. However, if you want to use the rhythm method for birth control, talk to your health care provider first if:

  • You recently had your first period
  • You just had a baby
  • You've recently stopped taking birth control pills or other hormone contraceptives
  • You're breastfeeding
  • You're approaching menopause
  • You have irregular menstrual cycles

What you can expect

Using the traditional calendar rhythm method involves these steps:

  • Record the length of six to 12 of your menstrual cycles. Using a calendar, write down the number of days in each menstrual cycle — counting from the first day of your period to the first day of your next period.
  • Determine the length of your shortest menstrual cycle. Subtract 18 from the total number of days in your shortest cycle. This number represents the first fertile day of your cycle. For example, if your shortest cycle is 26 days long, subtract 18 from 26 — which equals 8. In this example, the first day of your cycle is the first day of menstrual bleeding and the eighth day of your cycle is the first fertile day.
  • Determine the length of your longest menstrual cycle. Subtract 11 from the total number of days in your longest cycle. This number represents the last fertile day of your cycle. For example, if your longest cycle is 32 days long, subtract 11 from 32 — which equals 21. In this example, the first day of your cycle is the first day of menstrual bleeding and the 21st day of your cycle is the last fertile day.
  • Plan sex carefully during fertile days. If you're hoping to avoid pregnancy, unprotected sex is off-limits during your fertile days — every month. On the other hand, if you're hoping to get pregnant, have sex regularly during your fertile days.
  • Update your calculations every month. Continue recording the length of your menstrual cycles to make sure you're properly determining your fertile days.

Keep in mind that many factors, including medications, stress and illness, can affect the exact timing of ovulation. Using the rhythm method to predict ovulation can be inaccurate, especially if your cycle is irregular.

Standard Days method

A more modern approach to the calendar rhythm method is the Standard Days method. This method works best if your menstrual cycles are usually between 26 and 32 days long.

To use the Standard Days method:

  • Count the days in your menstrual cycle, starting with the first day of your period as day 1. Continue counting each day of your cycle until your next cycle starts.
  • On days 1-7, you're not considered to be fertile and can have unprotected sex, though you may have menstrual bleeding on those days.
  • On days 8-19, you're considered to be fertile. Avoid unprotected sex or abstain from sex to avoid pregnancy. Or, if you're trying to get pregnant, these are the days to have unprotected sex.
  • On day 20 through the end of your cycle, you're no longer fertile and can have unprotected sex.
  • When you get your next period, start the counting over at day 1.

To help you keep track of your cycle days, you can use a tool such as CycleBeads — a color-coded string of beads that allows you to identify fertile and nonfertile days. Or you can use the CycleBeads app to keep track of cycle days. From the app, you can also learn whether the Standard Days method is appropriate for you, based on the length of your menstrual cycles.

By Mayo Clinic Staff

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March 07, 2023

Print

  1. Hatcher RA, et al., eds. Fertility awareness-based methods. In: Contraceptive Technology. 21st ed. Ayer Company Publishers; 2018.
  2. Jennings V. Fertility awareness-based methods of pregnancy prevention. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed Jan. 11, 2021.
  3. Frequently asked questions. Contraception FAQ024: Fertility awareness-based methods of family planning. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/fertility-awareness-based-methods-of-family-planning. Accessed Jan. 11, 2021.
  4. Fowler GC, et al., eds. Fertility awareness-based methods of contraception. In: Pfenninger and Fowler's Procedures for Primary Care. 4th ed. Elsevier; 2020. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed Feb. 2, 2021.
  5. AskMayoExpert. Contraception. Mayo Clinic; 2019.

Rhythm method for natural family planning

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Rhythm method for natural family planning (2024)

FAQs

What is the rhythm method of family planning? ›

The rhythm method, also called the calendar method or the calendar rhythm method, is a form of natural family planning. To use the rhythm method, you track your menstrual history to predict when you'll ovulate. This helps you determine when you're most likely to conceive.

What is natural rhythm methods? ›

Fertility Awareness-based Methods (FAMs) (sometimes known as natural family planning or the rhythm method) are a way of finding out the days you are most likely to get pregnant and then not having sex on those days. It means paying close attention to your menstrual cycle to track when your body releases an egg.

Is Natural Cycles the rhythm method? ›

The Rhythm Method and the Standard Days Method are fertility awareness-based contraception methods, and Natural Cycles is a digital birth control method. These methods have one thing in common: They rely on identifying the user's fertile window. However, they work in different ways, and their effectiveness varies.

What are the methods of natural family planning? ›

The 2 main types of natural family planning involve: tracking periods to see when you're most fertile and avoiding sex or using condoms on those days (fertility awareness method) breastfeeding your baby for up to 6 months to delay ovulation (lactational amenorrhoea method)

How safe is the rhythm method? ›

The rhythm method is a type of natural family planning or fertility awareness. It is not the most reliable way of preventing pregnancy. With typical use, the traditional rhythm method, which only involves counting days on a calendar, has a failure rate of 8–25%. With perfect use, the failure rate is less than 5%.

Can the rhythm method fail? ›

The rhythm method is effective 75% of the time. It isn't as effective at preventing pregnancy as other methods, such as taking birth control pills or using an intrauterine device (IUD).

What percent of sperm live in 7 days? ›

Survival times for sperm and the ovum have been estimated to be 1.4 days and 0.7 days, respectively. Sperm would have a 5% probability of surviving more than 4.4 days and a 1% probability of surviving more than 6.8 days.

What are examples of natural rhythm? ›

The Earth is dominated by natural rhythms - the tides, the seasons, day and night. Adhering to these rhythms can be the difference between life and death. Mountain hares that don't get their winter coat in time, often freeze to death or are quickly spotted in the snow by predators.

What are the 4 types of rhythm? ›

What are the four types of rhythm? Four of the most common types of rhythm include regular rhythm, alternating rhythm, progressive rhythm, and flowing rhythm. Alternating rhythm, for example, uses two or more regular rhythms in an alternating, sequential pattern.

Has anyone gotten pregnant on Natural Cycles? ›

Natural Cycles is 93% effective with typical use, 98% effective with perfect use. No method of contraception is 100% effective. Natural Cycles does not guarantee that you cannot get pregnant, it only informs you whether and when you can become pregnant based on the information that you enter into the application.

What is the success rate of natural family planning? ›

If the instructions are properly followed, natural family planning methods can be up to 99% effective, depending on what methods are used. This means that 1 in 100 people who uses natural family planning will get pregnant in a year. It'll be less effective if it's not used according to the instructions.

Is the rhythm method approved by the Catholic Church? ›

For devout Catholics, that left only abstinence or the church-approved rhythm method (the practice of abstaining from sex during the woman's period of ovulation). However, the rhythm method was unreliable, and many believed it placed a heavy strain on marital relations.

What is the most safest family planning method? ›

Condoms are your safer sex superhero: they're the only way to get protection from pregnancy and STDs during vagin*l sex. No birth control method is perfect. So using condoms with another type of birth control (like the implant, IUD, or pill) gives you backup protection in case either method fails.

How to stop implantation of fertilized eggs naturally? ›

Unripe papaya contains a natural enzyme called papain, which is believed to regulate menstrual cycles and prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus. Ginger: Consuming ginger in the form of tea is believed to have contraceptive properties as it can induce a period and prevent pregnancy naturally.

Which family planning method has no side effects? ›

Natural and barrier methods are less likely to cause adverse effects than hormonal methods, but they may be less effective at preventing pregnancy. A doctor or another healthcare professional can advise about the best option, taking into account a person's overall health, lifestyle, and preferences.

What does the rhythm method prevent? ›

The rhythm method is a chemical- and device-free tactic to either conceive or prevent pregnancy. It functions by tracking the fertile period of a person's reproductive cycle (also known as the ovulatory phase), as well as the other two phases, known as luteal and menstrual, in which conception is less likely.

Which family planning method is the most effective? ›

Forms of birth control that are more convenient and don't require much maintenance are usually most effective. These forms include the birth control implant, intrauterine devices (IUDs) and sterilization.

How effective is the pull out method? ›

What we do know is that withdrawal works about 78% of the time overall. But the odds of pregnancy are always higher during the 5 days leading up to, and during, ovulation — these are called fertile days. If no sem*n gets on your vulva or in your vagin*, pregnancy can't happen — whether or not you're ovulating.

What are the four family planning methods? ›

Methods of contraception include oral contraceptive pills, implants, injectables, patches, vagin*l rings, intra uterine devices, condoms, male and female sterilization, lactational amenorrhea methods, withdrawal and fertility awareness-based methods.

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