What is the "rhythm method" in terms of birth control?

Question

I heard of someone getting pregnant even though they were practicing this kind of birth control. What is it?

Answer 1

The smart-aleck answer to what is the rhythm method:

Ineffective...

It involves counting the days in your cycle, determining which days are safe for intercourse and which days are not. There are a number of difficulties with it. The primary problem is that most women start their periods a fixed number of days after ovulation, but ovulation starts a VARIABLE number of days after the onset of the previous period.

See the problem? The obvious sign (oh look, my underpants are red) comes AFTER the thing you're trying to predict, while the thing you're trying to stay AWAY from may occur within a several-day window. I used to say it was like a radar detector that tells you when you just GOT a ticket.

Another problem with it as a birth control method is that sperm can live in the vagina for up to 48 hours, so if you have unprotected sex and your cycle speeds up for some reason, you can get pregnant on a day when you THINK you should have been safe.

You can improve the relative effectiveness of the pure-calendar rhythm method by monitoring your basal body temperature and the consistency of your cervical mucus. Also, many women learn to notice when they ovulate by feeling a kind of mini-cramp in the middle of their cycle (my wife used to call it a "ping"). The medical term for this is mittelschmertz, you can search the Web for info on it if you're interested.

The lure of rhythm is that when you are pretty sure a day is "safe," you can have unprotected sex (insert usual disclaimers about STDs, etc.). On days that are NOT "safe," you need to use some kind of protection, or have some kind of alternative form of sex.

If you are VERY careful, keep scrupulous records of your cycle, get really good at identifying different all the kinds of cervical mucus and can feel the "ping" every month... well, for us, the rhythm method was 99.9% effective, by actual calculation. Meaning that we made love about a thousand times between the birth of our second child and the conception of our third... and my wife only got pregnant once. :-)

We made love on a day we thought was safe, and then LATER THAT SAME DAY my wife felt the "ping." Too late! It worked out just fine, though; he's a super kid and I can't imagine life without him.

And, six months after he was born, I had 'em snipped. Second biggest improvement in my sex life in the past 35 years (meeting the woman I married being #1, of course).

Answer 2

The Rhythm Method, also known as the Calendar Method or the Knaus-Ogino Method (named after Hermann Knaus and Kyusaku Ogino), is a method of natural birth control that involves counting days of a woman's menstrual cycle in order to achieve or avoid pregnancy.

A recently developed variant of the Rhythm Method is known as the Standard Days Method. Developed by Georgetown University's Institute for Reproductive Health, the Standard Days Method has a simpler rule set and is more effective than Rhythm. A product, called CycleBeads, was developed along side the method to help a user keep track of high and low fertility points during a menstrual cycle.

The Rhythm Method is sometimes considered a form of fertility awareness. However, modern techniques of fertility awareness generally rely on several physiological signs of fertility, rather than a simple counting of days. Because of its lower accuracy, many fertility awareness teachers consider calendar rhythm to have been obsolete for at least 20 years. At one time, the Rhythm Method was sanctioned as an acceptable form of natural family planning by the Catholic Church, although, as in the fertility awareness community, more modern methods are being advocated by the church today.

Answer 3

You need to chart your ovulation by taking your basal body temperature and looking for slight shifts in temperature that would indicate you've ovulated. You also should note changes in CM, which means Cervical Mucous. You can use this method to get pregnant or to avoid pregnancy. It is not a reliable method for a lot of people because so many people have irregular periods. But I have been using this method for a few years now and it works for me, to avaoid pregnancy at this time.

The rhythm method involves getting to know your body real well... and it involves sincere dedication or it will not work. You can get free charts online just do a search for "fertility chart pdf". And buy a basal thermometer... follow the instructions inside the package. A good book to read would be Taking Charge Of Your Fertility.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

The rhythm method is also know as the pullout method. Your partener must find the number of strokes before the blow off. Much like keeping rhythm in music. Your partener will then pull out in the last second frantically pinching off his member

Answer 5

Its used alot by the Catholic community as a form of acceptable birth control. It is pretty unreliable though. I think people use the info involved more when they are trying to get pregnant then when they're not!!

Answer 6

It is a way of birth control that is based on timing your menstrual cycle for when you are least fertile. It is a very risky method because sometimes this cycle can change due to different things (depression, shock, etc...)

Answer 7

Its not a very accurate method, but it when you know your cycle, know when your fertile period and you're "due" to ovulate and then you abstain during this period. Its better than nothing, but definitely not fool proof. Condoms or some other form of contraception is more dependable. Your body may fluctuate from month to month.

Answer 8

Rythm method is refering to the pull out method...doesn't really work due to the fact that pre-ejaculate contains sperm, and you can get pregnant from that. This method is good for people in a committed relationship that aren't concerned if they get pregnant

Answer 9

I am a product of the "rhythm method". Guess it's true what they say, "White folks got no rhythm."

Answer 10

Keeping track of when you ovulate.. Write down when you quit your period and then check when your ovulating, you don't want to be doing the wild thing.. It can work, but its not as good as birth control pills.