The menstrual cycle can be taken as a basis for preventing unwanted pregnancies. To do this, you need to know how to calculate the monthly cycle. Undoubtedly, this method should be used only if a woman has only one partner, since this method can not protect against diseases that are sexually transmitted.
The cycle should be considered in order to determine the time when the occupation of sex will be "safe", i.e. during it there will be no conception or vice versa, when the most favorable time for this. The thing is that during the menstrual cycle in the body there are certain changes that contribute to or hinder the conception of the child.
The entire period of the menstrual cycle is divided into three parts:
- maturation of follicles;
- ovulation;
- progesterone period.
In the first period (the first 14-16 days from the beginning of menstruation), estrogens (female sex hormones) are very active, which contribute to maturation in the ovary of the egg.
On the 14-16th day, the period of ovulation occurs when the follicle breaks, the ovary ovum leaves the abdominal cavity, then it enters the fallopian tube. During this period, the processes occur under the influence of the luteonizing and follicle-stimulating hormones of the pituitary gland; a signal for the secretion of these hormones is a certain level of estrogens in the blood.
In the last period, which lasts from 15 to 28 days, the formation of a yellow body occurs at the site of the burst follicle, which then begins the production of estrogens and progesterones. If pregnancy occurs, progesterone prepares the uterus for insertion of the fetus; In addition, the maturation of other follicles that inhibit the development of this pregnancy is inhibited; if conception occurs, then the yellow body stops its work, the level of hormones falls, and the mucous membrane of the uterus cavity, which is prepared to receive the embryo, begins to be rejected - menstruation begins.
To calculate the monthly (menstrual) cycle, you need to analyze it for several months. So you can determine the regularity of the cycle and calculate the days of ovulation, which means you can understand when the "safe" days occur, the probability of conception during which the minimum, or calculate the best time for conception.
Programs for calculating the cycle
Now there are many computer programs that will help calculate the menstrual cycle. With their help, you can not only calculate the time of onset of ovulation, but even predict the sex of your unborn baby, and also track the premenstrual syndrome. You can also make a pregnancy calendar to determine the birth date of the baby. The calendar can be printed and presented to the gynecologist.
How to calculate a cycle yourself
It is possible to calculate the cycle and independently. To do this, choose the longest and shortest cycles (in the last six months). In this case, the duration of the menstrual cycle (monthly) is the number of days from the first day of menstruation until the first day of the next. Then, 18 days are subtracted from the longest cycle, and 10 days are subtracted from the shortest, resulting in a number of safe days for conception at the beginning and at the end of the monthly cycle, respectively. The period between these days is considered the most favorable for the onset of pregnancy.
Calculation of basal temperature
Very accurately, the monthly cycle can be calculated using the basal temperature charts. In the first days, the temperature is kept at 37 ° C, after that a sharp drop to 36.6 ° C, and then the same sharp rise to 37.5 ° C the next day. After that, the temperature is kept approximately at the same level until the end of the cycle and decreases one to two days before menstruation. If the temperature does not drop, then the pregnancy has come. If the temperature throughout the cycle is the same, then there is no ovulation, and this indicates the impossibility of conception.
Therefore, every woman should carefully monitor her menstrual cycle. And in case of the slightest change, she should immediately visit a gynecologist.