The question “how to protect yourself” is as old as the question of whether to have sex. The last rare lady will knowingly say no.Therefore, for the whole age of sexual activity, she will have to take measures to ensure that the children she will be born to have been planned and desired.
The variety of methods of contraception available to modern science has not abolished the most ancient method, perhaps, that is called natural. The natural method is based on conscious self-restraint in “dangerous” days of the cycle or in “dangerous moments” (the ending of sexual intercourse). The fact that this method is acceptable for a woman of the 21st century was recognized by the correspondent of SE.
The essence of all methods of birth control, called “natural”, is one: male sperm do not have to meet with a female egg. Here there are two options. The first is to exclude sex on dangerous days. The second is to tell the partner before the ending “darling, not into me”. Often these methods combine and proudly call their approach a “natural method”. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Temperature regime
As is known from the course of anatomy, a female egg is capable of fertilization only in the middle of the menstrual cycle, during the days of ovulation. In all other days, pregnancy is impossible, which means, as some think, you do not need to spend money on condoms and pills: the first are uncomfortable, the latter are expensive and require great responsibility.
“Perovulyatory days are considered as dangerous: 3 days before supposed ovulation and 1-2 days after it. For most women, they fall in the middle of the menstrual cycle, “- reminiscent of the gynecologist-endocrinologist of the medical center” Catharsis “Rouse Loginova, stating that for the correct calculation of ovulation must be monitored for a period of 3-6 in the menstrual cycle by means of tests, which can teach gynecologist.
At home, you can apply the method of measuring basal temperature – to measure vaginal or rectal body temperature every morning immediately after sleep: during ovulation it will rise by a few tenths of a degree. There are also pharmacy tests for ovulation. They are accurate enough, but they cost money and are more often used by those who on the contrary try to become pregnant.
Life on a calendar
Women with an established cycle often manage only the calendar. After counting the days from the beginning of the first menstruation to the beginning of the next, they divide the number of days in half – and find out their day of ovulation. Then they take three days “before” and three days “after” (this is the life span of the spermatozoa that hit the female genital tract) and put an end to the marital duty during this period. This method requires accuracy, care, patience and willpower. And fraught with surprises, even for those who bravely endure the hardships of the “calendar” regime.
As gynecologists resemble, the human body – and especially the female organism – that is affected by stresses, chronic ailments and other factors, does not work like a clock. So that ovulation can unplanned shift.
“The main difficulty is to accurately determine the timing of ovulation, since absolutely precise signs do not exist, and many women have fluctuations in the duration of the cycle. Unfortunately, only 8% of women have a stable 28-day cycle, “recalls Rauza Loginova. “If the cycle is unstable, you do not need to measure the temperature, it’s completely pointless” – warns gynecologist ZCZ “Zdravitsa” Alla Teplitskaya.
Cautious should be in the period of menstruation, and in the days immediately following them, which are often considered safe in terms of conception.
“A young healthy woman can get pregnant on any day of the cycle, especially with a not very regular sex life.
This is evidenced by the “pregnancy of wartime”, when conception came after a single sexual act, regardless of the day of the cycle, “warns Rauza Loginova.
Time to stop
Those who do not want to mess around with calendars and rulers, drawing a temperature curve, where the people’s method of interrupted sexual intercourse seems to be easier: when a man restrains ejaculation, and the male seed “does not need to” does not fall. According to doctors, this method is used by almost half of the patients.
“Most often these are young couples, and the initiator is usually a man – the opponent of condoms and the fact that his partner took the pill because of fear that she will recover or will take” chemistry “- says Alla Teplitskaya. However, even timely measures do not guarantee that a couple of spermatozoa – which are famous for their mobility and vitality – did not reach their destination before ejaculation, along with the secret that is excreted in men. It is no accident, judging by the forums
For those who so far do not categorically want children, interrupted intercourse is a method not only unreliable, but also serving as a constant source of stress.
The psychotherapist-sexologist of the Insight clinic Igor Lyakh believes that such a method is fraught with serious consequences for the sexual life of partners: “The very fact of deterrence, a complex mental strain, distorts the natural course of the process. This may not like the woman herself, because a man becomes less emotional, has to be distracted to restrain himself, less active moves. ” The most harmful situation, says Igor Lyah, arises, if a man as a result does not manage to experience detente at all – the fact is that this is one of the reasons for the development of inflammatory processes in the small pelvis.
“It is possible to minimize harm to health only by a combination of methods, it is impossible to restrain oneself all the time, otherwise a complex psychological situation is formed that provokes a decrease in the libido as a whole, the sexual act itself becomes somewhat neurotic, unnatural. For all you have to pay, in this case – the inability for a man to completely relax, and for a woman, too, “the sexologist sums up.
But the choice of method of contraception, like any issue of sexual life, requires consideration of the interests of both partners. Here we are talking about many factors – from individual comfort to readiness to accept a “surprise” pregnancy. About how much “calendars” and “not in me!” Protect from the latter, they say figures: the Perl index for “natural methods” is about 20%. That is, out of a hundred women using these methods, one in five becomes pregnant.