How can charting your cycle help you get (and stay) pregnant?
There are a variety of different fertility awareness based methods (FABMs) that can be used to help a woman identify her fertile window each cycle. Different methods have varying levels of efficacy.
For example, the rhythm or calendar method uses the assumption that a woman has a 28 day cycle and she will ovulate on day 14. This method will be inaccurate for most women, especially if a woman ever has a cycle that is longer or shorter than 28 days.
The FEMM method uses a woman’s individual signs of cervical mucus and LH testing to identify her time of fertility each cycle.
How can FEMM charting help you get pregnant? By charting your cycle, you can help identify if you are ovulating and when you are ovulating. Ovulation is a requirement to be able to get pregnant. If an egg is not being released, there is no chance of pregnancy. Certain markers seen during charting, such as the quality and quantity of cervical mucus, can help determine if ovulation is occurring. If not, the next step would be to refer you to a FEMM doctor to figure out the root cause of why you are not ovulating.
Similarly, if there is no cervical mucus present, pregnancy will not occur. Cervical mucus is necessary in order to extend the life of sperm and make fertilization possible.
Based on your chart, if you do seem to be ovulating but are struggling to get (or stay) pregnant, another key element to consider is progesterone levels. Charting your cycle allows you to assess the length of your luteal phase, which is generally the second half of the cycle.
A sufficient luteal phase is necessary for a healthy pregnancy to occur. The luteal phase is dominated by progesterone, which keeps the uterine lining intact long enough to allow for implantation. If progesterone levels are too low, the uterine lining will shed in menstruation and successful implantation will not occur. Additionally, spotting at the end of the luteal phase (especially a short luteal phase) can further cause suspicion for low progesterone levels.
Of course, there can be outside factors that lead to infertility or pregnancy loss. However, these examples are brief explanations of how charting your cycle is a critical step in family planning goals, especially when there are fertility struggles. If this is a struggle that you are experiencing, please know my heart and prayers are with you. I would be honored to work with you to learn more about your body and your health, and help you along your family planning journey.
