Rhythm method

Rhythm method
Also known as fertility awareness, natural family planning, and periodic abstinence, this approach to contraception 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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rhythm method n a method of birth control involving continence during the period of the sexual cycle in which ovulation is most likely to occur

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a contraceptive method in which sexual intercourse is restricted to the safe period at the beginning and end of the menstrual cycle. The safe period is calculated either on the basis of the length of the menstrual cycle or by reliance on the change of body temperature that occurs at ovulation. A third possible indicator (see Billings method) is the change that occurs with ovulation in the stickiness of the mucus at the neck (cervix) of the uterus. The method depends for its reliability on the woman having uniform regular periods and its failure rate is higher than with mechanical methods, approaching 25 pregnancies per 100 woman-years.

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a method of preventing conception by restricting coitus to the so-called safe period, avoiding the days just before and after the expected time of ovulation. Called also periodic abstinence.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • rhythm method — rhythm .method n [singular] a method of ↑birth control which depends on having sex only at a time when the woman is not likely to become ↑pregnant …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • rhythm method — rhythm ,method noun uncount a method of BIRTH CONTROL that involves a man and a woman not having sex during the time of the month when the woman is likely to become pregnant …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • rhythm method — n. a method of seeking birth control by abstaining from sexual intercourse during the woman s probable monthly ovulation period …   English World dictionary

  • rhythm method — noun natural family planning in which ovulation is assumed to occur 14 days before the onset of a period (the fertile period would be assumed to extend from day 10 through day 18 of her cycle) (Freq. 1) • Syn: ↑rhythm method of birth control,… …   Useful english dictionary

  • rhythm method — N SING: usu the N The rhythm method is a practice in which a couple try to prevent pregnancy by having sex only at times when the woman is not likely to become pregnant …   English dictionary

  • rhythm method — rhythm′ meth od n. pha a method of birth control by abstaining from sexual intercourse when ovulation is most likely to occur • Etymology: 1935–40 …   From formal English to slang

  • rhythm method of birth control — noun natural family planning in which ovulation is assumed to occur 14 days before the onset of a period (the fertile period would be assumed to extend from day 10 through day 18 of her cycle) • Syn: ↑rhythm method, ↑rhythm, ↑calendar method of… …   Useful english dictionary

  • rhythm method — noun A method of natural birth control that involves counting days of a womans menstrual cycle in order to determine when sexual intercourse is most or least likely to result in pregnancy. Syn: calendar method, Knaus Ogino method …   Wiktionary

  • rhythm method — a contraceptive method in which sexual intercourse is restricted to the safe period at the beginning and end of the menstrual cycle. The safe period is calculated either on the basis of the length of the menstrual cycle or by reliance on the… …   The new mediacal dictionary

  • rhythm method — noun Date: 1940 a method of birth control involving abstinence during the period in which ovulation is most likely to occur …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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