How to Calculate Safe Days to Avoid Pregnancy
Pregnancy can be a happy thing for couples that want to have children, especially in a marriage setup. However, it can be devastating for women that did not expect it. This is what leads to unnecessary abortions, and sometimes children that are born and given up for adoption thus denied the chance to grow up with their biological parents. Instead of letting it get to this point, it’s wise that you avoid it from the word go especially if you’ve got an active sexual life. There’s different ways to do it, and one of the most common and the oldest way being to calculate safe days. Here is how you do it.
How to calculate safe days to avoid pregnancy
If you are to understand your safe days to avoid pregnancy, you first have to understand your cycle. A menstrual cycle is complete from day 1 of your periods to the next day 1 of the next period. Safe days are calculated as being between day 1 to 7 and also from day 21 to the last day of the cycle. These are the days within which you can engage in sexual activity without worrying about getting pregnant. The days aren’t fixed. They’ll change depending on your cycle. Most women get 28 day cycles with a few having lesser days. However, there is also a group of women that have cycles that are longer than 28 days and for this category of ladies, the concept of safe days can never be relied upon since it is almost impossible to predict.
What is the safe days to avoid pregnancy?
Knowing your safe days to avoid pregnancy after menstruation will save you a lot of trouble especially when you are not prepared for it. It is important that you take extreme caution when calculating your safe days since relying on physical means and guesswork could lead to serious mistakes that could cost you and result in regrets. After pinpointing unsafe days, you can take necessary measures avoid pregnancy by using protection on these days. It is not to put you off sex, but rather let you plan. It is advisable to use proven techniques to calculate your safe days. Here are two that will work excellently.
The safe period calculator
This method demands that you understand the menstrual cycle changes. The first step is to identify when you cycle starts and when it ends. This knowledge will be crucial in determining and finding your safe and unsafe periods. It will equip you with the knowledge of what are the safe days to avoid pregnancy in your case.
Once you master this calculator works you have to find out if it’s compatible with your cycle. Not all people can use this technique successfully. Those who qualify to use it are people whose average length of the menstrual cycle for the past six months has been between 26 to 32 days. In addition to this, the difference between longest and shortest cycles is seven days or less. However, before you can attempt to use this technique, it is advisable to visit your doctor to inquire this method’s reliability. The failure rate has been registered to be between 3-4 percent per year.
The method cannot work for people whose cycle is less than 26 days and on the higher side more than 32 days. You also cannot use it immediately after child birth as your cycle is yet to stabilize. Only use it after you have had six regular menstrual cycles after delivery. It also does not work for women who are almost reaching menopause as well as teens.
2. FAM- Fertility Awareness Method
This is the second technique to calculate your safe days. It is often referred to as natural family planning. With this technique, you need to be keen about the signs that the body is releasing due to hormone changes in the body. It is based on a couple of assumptions including:
An egg is released in a cycle
Eggs live up to 24 hours
Sperms survive for up to 6 days within which they can fertilize the ovum
A woman’s fertility happens within six days before ovulation and two to three days after ovulation.
The system works by alerting you on the days that you are most fertile thus you will be able to take the necessary precautions. Apart from these two methods, you can also go for the ovulation predictors test kits. These will help you during ovulation although they are not entirely dependable.
Safe days to avoid pregnancy chart
With a better understanding of how to calculate your safe days, the following chart will simplify your work.
Get the short cycle on record
Minus 18 from the days in your shortest cycle
Add the number you get to your current cycle (add from day one of the cycle)
Mark the day the addition gets you to with an X
X will be your first fertile day of the current cycle
The last fertile day process is different.
Get the longest cycle and minus 11 from total day count
Add the result to day one of your cycle. The result is your last fertile day
Remember that sperm can stay viable in the vagina for a couple of days. It is always wise to give yourself an up to 4 days padding to your first fertile day to avoid any surprises.
This calculation may seem complicated, but when put in a chart it is very simple. Use your calendar to mark the days and follow through. Alternatively, if all this appears like a hustle that you cannot get through then visit a doctor for the best advice on how to avoid pregnancy, safe days or not. Even so, most of these measures are not 100% guarantees.