Natural family planning

Also known as fertility awareness, natural family planning involves tracking changes in your body and predicting when you’re most likely to get pregnant so you can avoid unprotected sex at those times. It takes some training before you can use it effectively, and is not recommended if you have an irregular menstrual cycle.

Hormones

None

Frequency

Daily. You need to observe and record the changes in your body each day at the same time.

Effectiveness

Can be 99%, but depends on the training you’ve had and how closely the process is followed.

STI protection

No

Periods

No change to periods

Getting started

To start, you’ll need to be taught the method by a specialist and you’ll need to track 6 menstrual cycles before you can predict your fertile days.