A lot of women can't really calculate their menstrual cycle. This has led many to taking short cuts using non natural family planning methods in order to escape pregnancy.
Non natural Family planning methods could be a temporal relieve when you don't want children at a particular time but, what about the side effects when you're set to have kids.
Many have complained of delay in getting pregnant when they plan to get pregnant as a result of using other non natural methods of family planing such as taking pills.
To this end, this post is made to enlighten you on the best way to calculate your menstrual cycle.
What is menstruation?
According to Wikipedia menstruation "is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue (known as menses) from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina.
What is menstrual cycle?
This is the period between one menstruation to the next menstruation. It is a woman's natural calendar.
What is Ovulation?
This is the release of egg or ovary to the fallopian tube ready for fertilization.
Ovulation day?
This is the day the egg is released for fertilization to occur. This is the day a woman is most fertile. Conception takes place on this day.
Safe days
These are the days you can have sex without getting pregnant.
Danger days
These are the days a woman is likely going to get pregnant if she engages in sex.
I guess by now you're acquainted with the terminologies used in the entire process... Lets get cracking.
Before we go into the process of calculating your menstrual cycle, it is very important that you know that the beginning of every period marks the end of the previous period.
While you, record the day you start seeing your menses as the last day of the previous cycle, you start recording or counting that day as the first day of your next cycle.
Your cycle is your natural calendar therefore, you're to work with days and not dates to avoid confusion.
Every woman has her menstrual cycle differently some 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 31 32....
Though majority of women have 28 days cycle,you have to count yours and never to assume it's 28 days.
If you haven't started counting before, wait till the first day of your next period. Then start counting.
Get a piece of paper and write day 1 on the first day...
Keep counting on daily basis till your next period.
The day you see your next period is the last day. Let's say the day you saw your next period was day 29. You're through with that cycle for that month.
Start the next counting on that very last day. I.e day 29 is also day 1 of the next cycle.
Understood? Let's go ahead....
While counting, usually day 14 is always your ovulation day except for few exceptions... I'll talk about that at the end of the post.
From day 11 to day 17 is considered as your danger days. You can get pregnant if you have unprotected sex on these days.
The reason why the days before ovulation are unsafe is because sperm can stay in a woman's body for up to three days.
That means having sex on day 11, 12, and 13 will lead to pregnancy because sperm will remain in the woman till day 14.
On the day of ovulation a woman's egg is capable of lasting for 24 hours. To be on the safe side, 3 more days are added after day 14 i.e 15, 16 and 17.
After these unsafe days, a woman is free to have sex on other days.
Remember you start counting for a new cycle the day you start bleeding and not the day the bleeding has stopped.
Keep counting like you count normal dates. ..remember that's your calendar.
With this knowledge and discipline attached, you can avoid unwanted pregnancy at ease.
There are a few exceptions... women with short cycles like 24, 25, 26 ovulate while they are menstruating. This means they can conceive while menstruating if they had unprotected sex.
Women who are on other methods of family planning might experience inconsistent cycle when they're no longer using them. it will take a while to normalize.
Place your comment, contributions or questions in the comments section below. I'm all ears and will reply immediately.
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