Fertility Awareness-Based Methods (FABMs) are natural family planning methods that help to identify woman’s fertile and infertile phases based on the observation of different physiological markers, also referred to as ‘biomarkers’.
FABMs are based on the understanding that a woman’s fertility is only a small window of her entire menstrual cycle and in response to hormonal fluctuations, there are physical symptoms that can be observed and logged in an app like Premom.
Through these observations, women can identify their fertile and infertile days and use this information to avoid* or achieve pregnancy.
There are several different types of FABMs, each of which involves tracking different physiological markers.
Common types of FABMs
- Basal Body Temperature (BBT) Method: This method involves tracking a woman’s basal body temperature, which is the body’s temperature at rest, to identify when ovulation occurs.
- Cervical Mucus Method: This method involves tracking changes in the cervical mucus throughout the menstrual cycle to identify when ovulation occurs.
- Billings Ovulation Method
- Creighton model
- Two day method
- Sympto-Thermal Method: This method involves tracking a combination of physiological markers, including basal body temperature, cervical mucus, and other symptoms such as breast tenderness or changes in libido to identify when ovulation occurs.
- Sympto-Hormonal Method: This based on the observation of basal body temperature, cervical mucus, and changes in the openness, texture and position of the cervix throughout the cycle.
- Standard Days Method: Women who have regular 26-32 day cycles can use this method to track the length of the menstrual cycle to identify her fertile and infertile days. Women who use this method avoid unprotected sex on days 8 through 19 of their cycle, when they are most likely to be fertile.
While there are many different methods to track fertility, there is no right or wrong method for you! The symptoms you prefer to log, will determine which form of fertility awareness method you will use.
A variety of methods can be used within the Premom app and all possible symptoms and observations can be recorded directly in the ‘daily logs’ section and viewed in the ‘charts’ view.
The goal of all methods is to observe different bodily signs that indicate fertile times and infertile times so you can plan intercourse to get pregnant.
*If trying to avoid pregnancy, seek out direct supervision from a licensed fertility awareness specialist and utilize physical barrier methods or abstinence before, during and after suspected fertility. Premom is designed to help women get pregnant at present.
