Natural family planning

Natural family planning
Also known as fertility awareness, periodic abstinence and the rhythm method, this approach entails not having sexual intercourse on the days of a woman's menstrual cycle when she could become pregnant or using a barrier method (such as a condom, the diaphragm or a cervical cap) for birth control on those days. Because a sperm may live in the female's reproductive tract for up to 7 days and the egg remains fertile for about 24 hours, a woman can get pregnant within a substantial window of time — from 7 days before ovulation to 3 days after. Methods to approximate when a woman is fertile are usually based on the menstrual cycle, changes in cervical mucus, or changes in body temperature.

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natural family plan·ning -'plan-iŋ n a method of birth control that involves abstention from sexual intercourse during the period of ovulation which is determined through observation and measurement of bodily signs (as cervical mucus and body temperature) abbr. NFP

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rhythm method.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • natural family planning — noun any of several methods of family planning that do not involve sterilization or contraceptive devices or drugs; coitus is avoided during the fertile time of a woman s menstrual cycle • Hypernyms: ↑birth control, ↑birth prevention, ↑family… …   Useful english dictionary

  • natural family planning — noun Date: 1975 a method of birth control that involves abstention from sexual intercourse during the period of ovulation which is determined through observation and measurement of bodily symptoms …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • natural family planning — noun Timing sexual intercourse to avoid the time of ovulation (if pregnancy is not wanted) or to fall within that time (if pregnancy is desired). Syn: rhythm method …   Wiktionary

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  • basal body temperature method of family planning — noun natural family planning in which the fertile period of the woman s menstrual cycle is inferred by noting the rise in basal body temperature that typically occurs with ovulation • Syn: ↑basal body temperature method • Hypernyms: ↑natural… …   Useful english dictionary

  • ovulation method of family planning — noun natural family planning in which the fertile period is inferred from changes in the character and quantity of cervical mucus; ovulation is marked by an increase in mucus that becomes sticky and then clearer and slippery • Syn: ↑ovulation… …   Useful english dictionary

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