THE RHYTHM METHOD
This is a method of
periodic abstinence based on the fact that women are able to conceive during
only part of each month. During her fertile years, a woman ovulates, or releases
an egg cell from an ovary, about once a month. Leaving the ovary, the egg
travels down a fallopian tube toward the womb. If a sperm unites with the egg,
conception occurs.
For about two weeks after ovulation, the lining of the womb,
its tissues built up through an enriched supply of blood, is ready to nest and
nourish the fertilized egg. If conception does not occur, the unused, built-up
tissue breaks down and is discharged in the process known as menstruation.
While the time varies somewhat among women, menstruation generally occurs
fourteen days after ovulation. A woman's safe period averages about twenty days
long, starting ten days prior to menstruation and lasting until about ten days
after menstruation begins.
Usually, conception can occur only when intercourse
takes place during the middle days of the menstrual cycle, the period four or
five days before to four or five days after ovulation. Since the safe period
varies according to the menstrual cycle, each woman must determine it for
herself. Some women can tell when ovulation occurs because at that time, midway
between periods, they experience inter menstrual pain, a peculiar, sudden,
spasmodic sensation opposite one of the ovaries, followed by a heavy feeling in
the lower abdomen which may last several hours. If they are alert for it, most
women will observe an unusual mucous secretion at that time.
These indications
are helpful in determining the exact day of ovulation. Much more accurate,
however, is a rise in temperature, which occurs at this time, usually between
0.60 and 0.8 OF. To determine the period of ovulation, you should keep a
temperature chart [or no less than three month", taking your temperature for
five minutes every morning after awakening while still in bed. In even the most
regular women, illness or an emotional upset may delay ovulation. When this happens,
calculations will be in. Because of this possibility, the rhythm method cannot
be considered as reliable as the condom or pessary.
It has the
disadvantage, too, of limiting days for coitus. One of its advantages is that
it depends upon both partners; it is a joint responsibility. And because it
does not depend upon an artificial device, it is morally and ethically
acceptable III Roman Catholics and members of certain other religious denominations.
For complete safety-when, for example, pregnancy could seriously threaten
health or life-we feel that all couples whose religious beliefs permit should
use both the condom and the diaphragm-contraceptive- I ream or IUD methods and
should avoid intercourse on the days when conception might take place.
