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The marriage calendar, or the Ogino-Knaus method, is one of the natural methods of contraception or vice versa - planning conception if we dream of having children. Is the marriage calendar effective? How do you calculate your fertile days using the Ogino-Knaus method?

The Ogino-Knaus method , ormarriage calendar , is a natural method of contraception or a natural method of family planning. It can be used by women whose menstrual cycles are regular and last between 25 and 33 days, while ovulation (ovulation, i.e. the release of an egg from the ovary into the fallopian tube) occurs in the half of the cycle, i.e. about 14 days before menstruation.

What is the marriage calendar?

To work out your fertile days, make a careful note of your period. After a minimum of 6 months - preferably a year - of such notes, we already know how long our cycle lasts on average.

Fertile days are usually around 14 days before menstruation. However, the wordaroundshould be emphasized. It is about the half-cycle time. If a woman menstruates, for example, every 26 days, it can be assumed that the last 8-10 days of the cycle are the so-called "Safe days" (if we use the calendar as a method of contraception), i.e. intercourse during this time should notratherlead to fertilization.

Similarly, the "safe" moment is 2 days right after menstruation (of course, intercourse during menstruation is also "safe"). On the other hand, the days falling between these periods are "safe" no longer. On the other hand, couples trying to conceive a child have the best chance of conceiving then.

To more accurately define the fertile days with the help of the marriage calendar, we can additionally measure the body temperature, which increases by a minimum of 2 lines immediately after ovulation, and observe the cervical mucus (Billings method) - it becomes transparent during ovulation , plentiful and pulling. Abdominal pain and breast tenderness in the middle of the cycle can confirm that you have ovulated.

How to calculate the fertile days using the Ogino-Knaus method?

Please note that this method is intended for women who have regular periods.

The calculations are made as follows: in the calendar, e.g. after the year of observation,we will notice that some cycles are 26 days long and some are 32 days. Then we subtract 11 days from the longest cycle - and this will be the end of our fertile period, and we subtract 18 days from the shortest - this will be the beginning of our fertile period. It should be taken into account here that the sperm in the female reproductive tract can survive up to 5 days, and the egg cell after ovulation is still alive for 1-2 days.

Example:

The shortest cycle - 25 days

Longest cycle - 31 days

25 - 18=7

31 - 11=20

So, if you are not planning a pregnancy, you should refrain from intercourse from the 7th to the 20th day of the cycle.

How to keep a marriage calendar?

It's nothing difficult! On the day of the menstruation, put, for example, an "x" in the calendar. In the following days of bleeding, we can still mark "x", but if the period is always the same, e.g. 5 days, it is not necessary.

After a few months, we already have a good picture of our menstrual cycles. The first day of the cycle is the first day of your period and the last day is the day before your next period starts.

Then we apply the fertile days according to the method described above, preferably with color. The range of days that we will paint over is the time at risk of fertilization. You should not have sex during this time.

See also: Natural family planning (NPR) - what is it?

Effectiveness of the Ogino-Knaus method

It cannot be said that the marriage calendar is an effective method of contraception. The length of the menstrual cycle, as well as the time of ovulation, is influenced by many factors, such as: severe stress, fatigue, infection (colds, flu), diet changes (including weight loss), climate change, disturbance of the rhythm of sleep and wakefulness , alcohol abuse, antibiotic therapy, etc.

Even if a woman has regular periods every 28 days, she can never be sure that one cycle will not be upset. After all, the human body is not a computer.

A marriage calendar is definitely a better way to plan conception than as a protection against pregnancy. As a rule, couples in which the woman is he althy and regularly menstruating, using the Ogino-Knaus method, get pregnant after a few attempts.

Contraception - learn these surprising facts!

This will be useful to you

The effectiveness of the method of contraceptionis determined by the so-called Pearl index. This is the number of pregnancies among 100 women who used a given method of contraception during the year (i.e. for 1,200 cycles).

If the Pearl Index is 5, it means that for every 100 women who have used this data for a yearmethod, 5 became pregnant. The lower the Pearl Index is, the more effective the method is.

Without contraception the Pearl Index is 85. The Pearl Index for the monophasic contraceptive pill is 0.2-0.5, for the 3-7 condom, andfor the marriage calendar is 15-45.

Disadvantages of a marriage calendar

Apart from the aforementioned low effectiveness, the following disadvantages of the Ogino-Knaus method can be mentioned:

  • long period of sexual abstinence, no spontaneity,
  • no possibility of using this method after childbirth, when a woman may not have periods at all for many months (not suitable for breastfeeding women),
  • no additional protection against sexually transmitted diseases,
  • is not intended for women who do not have a permanent sexual partner or who like frequent and casual sex,
  • is not recommended for women who have entered the pre-menopausal period.

Advantages of a marriage calendar

The use of a marriage calendar also has advantages that are extremely important for many people. It is a method which:

  • is completely natural and safe for he alth,
  • has no side effects (such as weight gain or vaginal dryness, which can occur with hormonal contraception, or, for example, an allergy to condom use),
  • is suitable for ladies with he alth contraindications,
  • there are no philosophical contraindications,
  • allows, by the way, to learn to recognize various signals sent by the body and thus notice, for example, an early stage of a disease,
  • costs nothing.

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Pregnancy