I have spent 5 years of marriage using this method to AVOID pregnancy. My mom used this method for 25 years of marriage, both to conceive (5 kids) and avoid conceiving. Three of her five pregnancies were planned. The other two - one was conceived less than 2 mths after another was born, and my mom didn't know you could conceive so early while still breastfeeding. The other unexpected was conceived while my mom was fasting (juice only) for a week, because fasting throws off your body temp!
This book is an enclopedia of the female reproductive system, but it's easy reading. With this method, it doesn't matter how unusual your cycles are - mine range from 30 to 120 days.
Other methods of natural planning are very narrow-minded: The "rhythm" method relies on counting days only. The Billings method relies only on cervical fluid. Typical NFP relies only on waking "basal" body temperatures. This book teaches you about all three, and how they work together to help you predict ovulation and understand your unique body and cycles.
If you don't think you're organized enough for natural family planning, because of the temperature and charting, DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU! (You still have to be organized enough to know where your pills are and take them every day!). The benefits are SO worth it.
The book does not set out to slam any un-natural type of birth control, it just helps you understand your body. However, the potential side effects of un-natural birth control are SO much more than the medical field will tell you (birth-defects, miscarriages, irritability, depression, emotional instability, and even unplanned pregnancies!) - I have sisters and friends that can attest to EACH of the above. Also, the hormones that stimulate ovulation also create HAPPY moods (including being amorous), like the opposite of PMS! If you are on the pill, you will never get this happy time of the month, because it is cutting off those hormones - but you do get to keep PMS!
ALSO HIGHLY RECOMMEND Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition by Marilyn Shannon. Addresses ways to manage fertility and balance feminine issues using nutrition, vitamin, herbal supplements, weight management, and more. Totally different subject than Taking Charge... but highly necessary. Get them both together.
UPDATE 2010: My husband and I have effectively used the NFP methods described in this book to avoid pregnancy for eight years. NFP is effective as long as you actually USE it. People you have heard of who accidentally got pregnant on NFP weren't using it properly, I can pretty much guarantee you. Now that we are using it to try to start a family, I feel really confident knowing my body so well, and understanding ovulation and fertility.
UPDATE 2014: Our son was born in 2012, thanks to understanding my cycles. I was ovulating, but not getting pregnant despite an effective timing of ovulation and intercourse. As a result, I was able to see a doctor and have some thyroid and hormonal issues addressed. They didn't try giving me ovulation-inducing drugs, because we could see from my charts that ovulation was not the problem; something else was. I conceived a few months after treatment for those issues. We have now used the FAM method after my son's birth, to help plan our second child.
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Great resource for all those expecting
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Valuable resource!
I have PCOS, so pregnancy is difficult to achieve. With the help of this book, and a great vegetarian diet, I was pregnant in a month after reading this book! Such helpful advice!I also think it's great for natural hormone free birth control! It keeps my interest & is easy to follow. I truly did not know enough about my own body before reading this book. Such a fantastic resource for anyone of any age! They certainly don't teach this stuff in health class. I now know things I deserve to have known from the time I was a teenager, before the first time I had sex.I hope a more teen friendly version comes out. Such an empowering book! It's nice to have information and know more about yourself! I will recommend this to everyone I know, for birth control, general knowledge, or for planning pregnancy!
Top reviews from other countries
Customer619
El libro más importante que he leído.
Reviewed in Spain on March 23, 2018Mélanie L'Estimé
How to know oneself in two lessons :) / se connaitre facilement
Reviewed in France on September 23, 2015