How else can you use basal body temperature method?

Basal body temperature method, though being not very reliable has a great advantage. By using this method of contraception a woman can achieve two very important goals. First of all, she can learn more about her own organism and its functioning, and secondly, she can define whether she is pregnant or not at very early stages of pregnancy.

What can you learn from the chart of basal body temperature?

1.Ovulation. Basal body temperature chart allows you to know whether ovulation occurs or not. When ovulation occurs the chart of basal body temperature consists of two phases. Temperatures in the first phase should be low. After that the second phase comes. In this phase temperatures should be about 0.4 degrees centigrade higher. Absence of such tendency means that a woman does not have ovulations and she needs especial treatment for getting pregnant.

2. Duration of phase of corpus luteum. Phase of corpus luteum should last for at least 10 days. Only such duration is enough for implantation. Keep in mind that the phase of corpus luteum begins on the first day of higher temperatures and lasts until the periods. Too short phase of corpus luteum leads to natural abortion.

3. The level of progesterone. The level of progesterone should be high enough for pregnancy. High level of progesterone increases basal body temperature after ovulation. Thus low temperature after ovulation shows that there is not sufficient level of progesterone.

4. Absence or presence of natural abortions This issue is very important. The fact is that sometimes pregnancy ends with natural abortion almost at its beginning. In this case a woman has periods and might not aware that she was pregnant. You can define whether you have natural abortions or not in the following way.

You should regularly take basal body temperature and pay especial attention to the second phase of the cycle. If you see that the temperature got higher and remained so for more than 18 days, then decreased and after that menstruation occurred, than it is quite possible that you had natural abortion.

It has been said above that basal body temperature can help you to define whether you are pregnant or not. How can you know?

Pregnant or not?

To find out whether you are pregnant or not, you should measure basal body temperature on regular basis.

You can be sure you are pregnant if temperatures keep being high for longer time than usual phase of corpus lutenium lasts. For example, if usually this phase lasts for 12 days, than 16 day long second phase means that you are very likely to be pregnant. By the way, the first phase can be of different duration (provided you have an irregular cycle), whereas the phase of corpus lutenium is usually very stable and lasts for 12-14 days.

Likehood of pregnancy is very high if there is the third level of high temperatures which occurs in a usual two-phase cycle (however, this does not always happen, charts of basal body temperatures differ in women). Usually the chart consists of two phases: the phase of low temperatures and the phase of high temperatures that occur immediately after ovulation. Sometimes the chart involves the third phase of high temperatures and becomes three-phase. Usually this means pregnancy.

18 high temperatures in succession in most cases mean pregnancy.

How to take basal body temperature properly?

1.Always use the same method of taking the temperature: anally, vaginally or orally.

2.Take the temperature after at least three hours of sleeping. If you usually get up at 8 a.m, but it happened so that you woke up at 6 a.m and for some reason had to get up (for instance to go to the lavatory) you had better take the temperature immediately. Otherwise you will have to take the temperature after less than two hours of sleeping and you will have the wrong picture.

3.The temperature should be taken at the same time, plus-minus half an hour.

4.Take the temperature immediately after awakening without getting up.

5.Take basal body temperature during at least three cycles!

Keep in mind that taking basal body temperature while using hormonal contraception is useless! The temperature will always be nearly the same.