What is the safe period method to prevent pregnancy?

The Safe Period Method:

The safe period method is also known as the rhythm method or natural family planning. This is one of the several widely used birth control methods that help in prevention of unplanned pregnancy. This method is based on an individual's menstrual cycle and aims to abstain from sexual intercourse on days she's the most likely to conceive (fertile days)

Working of Safe Period Method:

The menstrual cycle is divided into fertile and non-fertile phases. The menstrual phase is the period of bleeding each month. The ovulatory phase, or fertile window, is the time after menstruation when an egg is released (ovulation) and can be fertilized.

The safe period includes days before ovulation when pregnancy is unlikely and following ovulation when the egg has died making pregnancy impossible. The infertile or sterile period of a women's cycle is used for sexual intercourse to avoid pregnancy. The ovulation takes place usually in the mid of a menstrual cycle.

Calculating Safe Period:

a) Counting Days on Calendar:

On an average, the woman's menstrual cycle lasts for 28 days and ovulation occurs on the 14th day. But, since most individuals do not have a 28-day cycle, it's essential to do the following calculation to determine their fertile and infertile days.

b) Counting Days with Beads:

For couples having irregular menstrual cycle or find the menstrual calendar method hard to use, Fertility beads could be the easiest way to track fertility. Fertility beads are a string of colored beads representing fertile and infertile days in the menstrual cycle.

Effectiveness:

The safe period method, if followed accurately and consistently, can have an effectiveness of up to 75%. However, in real-world practice, it has a lower effectiveness rate of about 25%. This means couples who uses this method have a 1 in 4 chance of getting pregnant each year.