CONTRACEPTION, PLANNING A FAMILY AND INFERTILITY: WITHDRAWAL AND THE RHYTHM METHOD

Withdrawal-This is a simple method but it can be frustrated by, or frustrating for, either partner. The man withdraws his penis during the interval between his orgasm setting in and ejaculation starting. Since his instinct at this time is to thrust his penis deep into the vagina he may fail to withdraw in time. As the first few spurts of semen contain most of the sperms this is potentially dangerous. Some women so much hate the thought of withdrawal that they try to prevent it in the heat of the moment. This is a very unsafe method and can be emotionally unpleasant for the couple.

The rhythm method-This essentially consists of trying to predict when ovulation occurs from a study of the woman’s menstrual cycle. To do this properly she has to have an accurate record of her periods over the preceding year. Only then can she see a reliable time pattern. Going by what has happened over a few months is simply not accurate enough. The first day of the cycle is taken as being the day menstruation starts and the last day is the day menstruation next commences. The life of the egg is thought to be one to two days (although it may be as short as twelve hours) and that of the sperms in the tubes two to three days. Adding a day either side for safety means that intercourse has to be avoided for seven days around ovulation. This means that you cannot have intercourse between the eighteenth and eleventh days before your next period starts. To allow for variations in cycle length, the first unsafe day is calculated by deducting eleven from the number of days in the longest cycle. After every cycle the numbers should be worked out again so as to cover the last twelve cycles. This is important because very few women are regular as clockwork and many things, such as stress and illness, can alter cycle length. If you work on the assumption that your cycle is twenty-eight days long all the time you will definitely expose yourself to getting pregnant.

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