Tracking your menstrual cycles and other any other changes on a regular basis has a number of benefits, especially if you’re considering getting pregnant, trying to prevent conception, or simply assessing your overall health.
Monitoring your cycle is both empowering and fascinating as It’s more than just a method of both natural birth control and pregnancy achievement. It’s an excellent tool for assessing gynaecological problems and understanding your sexuality and body.
Keep a Record of Your Periods
Tracking your cycle is basically keeping a record of when you’re menstruating and documenting any information related to your cycle. Many women do this with a calendar and pen, but there are many great period-tracking apps to make the job easier.
You’ll want to mark on a calendar the first day of bleeding. The length of your cycle is measured from that day to the first day of your next period, with the average cycle being 28 days for most women. Although anything from 21 to 35 days is considered normal in adult women. Important to note is that it’s not impossible to get pregnant during your period.
Tracking Menstruation: How It Helps Your Reproductive Health
Knowing your cycle length is beneficial for women trying to conceive. By understanding the timing of your cycle, it’ll be important for determining when you are most likely to get pregnant.
Women are considered fertile when the egg has been released by the ovaries and is able to be joined by a man’s sperm. Due to how long the egg and the sperm survive inside a woman’s fallopian tubes, you can become pregnant if you have sex anywhere from five days before ovulation until one day after.
Every woman and each cycle are different, but generally ovulation occurs 14 days before the start of your next menstrual period. Knowing when you might be ovulating can enhance your odds of getting pregnant.
How Tracking Helps You Avoid Pregnancy
When you’re avoiding a pregnancy, for those who have very regular cycles, the fertility awareness method (FAM) can be used as a means of birth control. The general premise is to avoid sex during the time when you are most likely to conceive in your cycle. This isn’t foolproof however, and may not work for people who have irregular periods. For any woman with this challenge, it’s not a recommended way of preventing pregnancy.
Tracking Provides No Guarantees of Preventing Pregnancy
Before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s important to note that as the technology stands now, tracking should never be used as the sole method of birth control – be it via an app or the traditional way.
This is simply due to a number of factors that could influence ovulation from one month to the next.
Because it is difficult to know exactly when you ovulate, to most successfully prevent pregnancy it is best to use an additional type of birth control, even if you are closely monitoring your periods.
It’s important to remember that Birth control and Sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention are NOT the same thing. Only condoms protect against STIs when used correctly.
Get protected! Find your nearest Marie Stopes centre and pop in to get the facts about contraception, then find the right option for you.