Basal body temperature method: how it works
The measurement of the basal body temperature serves to determine whether and when a woman is ovulating. Here you can read how you can use the measurement of the basal body temperature for your desire to have children, but also for contraception.
How does the basal body temperature method work?
The basal body temperature method for natural family planninguses the increase in your body temperature. Your temperature rises when the sex hormones occur in increased numbers with ovulation. In the second phase of the cycle, which follows ovulation, the body temperature increases by around 0.3 to 0.6 degrees Celsius compared to the first phase of the cycle. The chance of fertilization is highest just before, during and after ovulation. However, the exact time of ovulation cannot be determined with the basal body temperature method. Experience has shown that it is one to two days before the temperature rises. If you have doubts about your fertility, you can find out by measuring your basal body temperature whether you are ovulating at all or not. In addition, the temperature curve gives your gynecologist indications of any hormonal disorders. Now let yourself go through the right onehelp you to easily calculate your cycle.
Carrying out the basal body temperature method
And this is how it works: The basal body temperature is the temperature that the body has immediately after waking up. So it’s best to measure them before you get up and if possible always in the same place so as not to falsify the results. You write down the results daily or enter them in a temperature chart. Ready-made tables are available from the gynecologist. You can also use the MomaSquad cycle calendar to document the basal body temperature.
The strict basal body temperature method
The simplest way to judge the temperature curve is what is known as the “three over six rule”. As soon as you measure the same temperature on three consecutive days, which is also above the average of the six previous daily temperatures, you can assume that ovulation has taken place. Now the egg cell should no longer be fertile and you can have unprotected sex until the next menstruation.
The extended basal body temperature method
With this much less safe version of the basal body temperature method, it is also possible to use the period traditionally described as “relatively safe” for sexual intercourse up to six days before the temperature jump. However, this method can only be recommended if the cycle is regular. In addition, you must have carried out regular measurements for a year beforehand in order to be able to draw conclusions about the future cycle with some certainty. So, in general, the extended basal body temperature method is considered an unsafe form of birth control.
Beware of illness
Fever, drinking alcohol the night before, medication, stress, and shift work can affect body temperature, making readings unreliable. The following applies: The basal body temperature method requires caution and discipline if you want to use it safely for contraception or to conceive a child.
Symptothermal method makes temperature method safer
Since the basal body temperature method is quite uncertain, many women supplement it with the findings of the Billings method , which provides more detailed information about your fertile days by examining the cervical mucus in your vagina. This combination of the basal body temperature method and the Billings method is also called the “ symptothermal method ”. With our cycle calculator you can easily record your data and print it out for discussions with your gynecologist.