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To prevent pregnancy, women can keep track of their menstrual cycles and abstain from unprotected vaginal intercourse during their peak fertile times. The methods you can use to do this are called fertility awareness-based methods(FAMs).
One way that women track their fertility patterns is called the Standard Days Method.
Standard Days Method
The Standard Days Method is a kind of calendar method. It is a way to keep track of your cycle. You may find it simpler to use than other methods. You can only use it if
- You have regular cycles.
- Your cycle is never shorter than 26 days.
- Your cycle is never longer than 32 days.
- You will not have unprotected vaginal intercourse from day 8 through day 19 of each cycle.
Most women use special strings of beads for the Standard Days Method. They are called CycleBeads. It helps keep track of their cycles. There are 33 colored beads and a moveable rubber ring on the string. The first bead is black with a white arrow. The next one is red. The next six are brown. The next 12 are white. And the last 13 are brown. Each one, except the black one, represents a day.
- On the first day of your period, day one, you put the ring on the red bead.
- You move the ring from one bead to another each day - in the direction of the arrow.
- Brown beads stand for safe days. You can have unprotected vaginal intercourse when the ring is on one of them.
- White beads stand for unsafe days. Do not have vaginal intercourse unless you use a cervical cap, condom, diaphragm, or female condom when the ring is on one of them.
Effectiveness
Of 100 couples who use the Standard Days Method correctly for one year, 5 will have a pregnancy.
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Certain things may make the Standard Days Method less effective. They include the use of hormonal contraception, including emergency contraception, IUDs, breastfeeding, or a recent pregnancy. |
Read more about the Standard Days Method at Cyclebeads.
This information is not meant as a substitute for professional advice.
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