Natural contraception?? Pull out, barrier and so on thoughts...

[angelbump]

I'm wondering what "natural" ie: no hormones contraception is there or do people use?
I'm wanting to come off bc in july in preparation for ttc in aug/sept 2017 but if we're going to have the best shot at conceiving when we want to then coming of bc earlier and trying some natural contraception may help.
Any advice or thoughts on this?
Thankyou x

 

[lilmisscaviar]

We've always only used barrier methods. Most of the time it is the pull out method because condoms get expensive lol. Honestly I've never become pregnant from my DH pulling out so it is pretty effective but you have to have extreme trust on your OH to pull out in time. I highly recommend staying away from hormonal BC if you plan to TTC soon because every time I came off of the pill, even if I wasn't on it long, it would mess up my cycles for months afterwards.

 

[swedengirl]

Hi! We use a mixture of natural family planning (e.g. tracking cycles) and condoms. I know that I normally ovulate around day 20 and so at day 14 of my cycle we start using condoms until my temp has spiked for three days in a row. Then we stop using them.

But I have a regular cycle and if I was to get pregnant it would not be a bad thing, we are just trying to hold out a few months for the ideal time.

 

[KalonKiki]

Hi there! I use NFP (natural family planning) as my form of contraception as I cannot take anything hormonal. We use condoms, the pull-out method, and I cycle track. I have my fertile period down to a T at this rate even with my irregular cycles (due to breastfeeding, when I'm not breastfeeding my cycles are regular). I can always tell when I'm fertile based on my CM and that's when DH and I take extra precaution. So far it's worked well for us, we only had a scare last month because DH screwed up the pull-out during my fertile period. I'm actually fertile right now and have either already ovulated today or yesterday or should tomorrow. I've been trying to track my temps as well but that hasn't been going well as DD has been sleeping like crap so my temps are off due to not getting enough REM sleep before time to temp.

 

[angelbump]

Thanks ladies will strongly consider coming off bc maybe 3 months prior to ttc. We're aiming to fall pg in aug/sept ideally so probably come off it june time to give my cycles a chance to go back to normal. It only took 3 months with ds but i know it may be different this time. Thanks for your help xx

 

[MindUtopia]

If you don't want to be on hormones and it's a short time frame, only a couple months, I would use condoms or track your cycles and only have sex after you ovulate every month. Otherwise, I'd say use a copper coil, but I don't think many providers would be happy to insert it for only 2 months (and I wouldn't want to go through that hassle either if I wasn't looking for a long term solution).

Honestly though, I wouldn't shy away from staying on hormonal contraception until you're ready to TTC unless you have known fertility problems that you need to sort out in advance. I stayed on the pill right up to TTC both times and both times my cycles were totally normal the very first month. When I got pregnant with my daughter, I literally fell pregnant about 6 weeks after I took my last pill (2nd cycle). This time we don't know yet as it's the first month we're really trying (it's my 2nd cycle, but we didn't really try last month as I was traveling and then we were so busy with Christmas), but my cycles have been perfect. And I'm 36 and have been on the pill for 18 years now, except for when I came off it to get pregnant last time. If you know you have irregular cycles, then yes, I might give them time to sort themselves out. But if you have no reason to suspect you have any fertility issues, I'd probably not bother, stay on it til you're ready to TTC, and see if you can benefit from the fertility surge than some women get in the month or two after they stop. If you were to get it, no sense wasting it on a month or two when we're using condoms and not even TTC.

 

[Pearls18]

I really wouldn't worry, I don't believe there is any link with the pill and delayed fertility I believe they say the opposite is in fact true? I fell pregnant immediately after stopping the pill. I think the injection is supposed to have a reputation for delayed fertility. I have the coil now, but wouldn't be worth it for that period of time.

 

[jessmke]

We used the pull out method successfully for about a year and half without any scares, but the only reason we did it was because we would have been totally ok if we had an oops pregnancy. I definitely wouldn't recommend the pull out method if you really don't want to become pregnant as it just isn't reliable. I had a copper IUD for many years and it was great, I would definitely recommend it but not for just a couple months of use. Condoms are probably your best bet.

 

[angelbump]

Thankyou for all your feedback. I fell pregnant 3rd cycle last time so I'm expecting it to be around that time frame. I really dont like using condoms so think I'll just stay on hormonal bc until june/july and then try and track my cycle and use condoms when neccasery as its only short term. Thanks again xx