Ep. 230: An Easy Fertility Awareness Tip to Help Get Started & Quit Birth Control

Are you considering a birth control alternative like fertility awareness methods? Are you using a natural birth control option? Getting started can come with challenges and roadblocks, which Caitlin knows all about (as a certified fertility care practitioner). In today's episode, she explores one easy tip that has helped countless couples begin to use natural family planning to avoid pregnancy and to continue to use it as long as they'd like!

NOTE: This episode is appropriate for all audiences.

SHOW NOTES:

See Caitlin at one of these upcoming book events!

Dallas, TX -- August 29

Denver, CO -- September 2

Raleigh, NC -- TBA

Order Woven Well: A Christian Woman's Guide to Reproductive Health, Fertility, and Wholeness

Related Episodes:

Ep. 6: The Pill - Facts about Birth Control

Ep. 135: Can I Trust Natural Birth Control?

Ep. 165: Using a Fertility Awareness Method on Your Honeymoon??

Ep. 200: Step by Step Gameplan for Starting a Fertility Awareness Method/NFP in 2026

Ep. 2: BASICS - Fertility Method of Choice: Creighton

Transcript

Caitlin Estes (00:24)

Welcome back to the Woven Well podcast. Now I work with lot of women and couples who choose to use fertility awareness methods to plan their family without the use of birth control. Most of us know that we can prevent pregnancy with birth control, but not everyone knows that there are other natural alternatives that are just as or even more effective.

Still, choosing to use a natural method comes with its own challenges, and so it's important to know that going in. For instance, for those who want to avoid pregnancy, that means there will be roughly a week each cycle when you may choose to avoid genital contact in order to avoid getting pregnant. And that's not easy, you know? That takes some adjustment for sure.

It also requires intentionality each day to observe your reproductive biomarkers. Now at Woven Natural Fertility Care, we put a huge emphasis on making sure that you have a fertility care practitioner to walk alongside you so that you pick up that habit fairly quickly and effectively, and so that it doesn't feel stressful or burdensome for very long, but it's still a shift, right? It's still a new thing that you'll need to begin doing. Now for most, it is hands down worth it to make the switch. But I've found one thing that really helps new adopters keep going in those early days and that's knowing why they're making the switch in the first place. What's inspiring you to use a fertility awareness method or to even consider using one? Now if I had to guess I'd say that one of the most common reasons could be yours.

At least this is true in my client population, okay? And that is that women are tired of the birth control side effects. They want an alternative that doesn't make them feel horrible. Maybe you've dealt with mood swings and anxiety that started after you began using birth control. Or you've been struggling with weight gain or acne that you thought birth control was supposed to help with when for you, it's only made things worse.

Whatever your side effects may be, they could be your primary reason for exploring natural alternatives. Totally reasonable. Another common reason could be yours. If you are looking for birth control alternatives, it may be because you have discovered that birth control doesn't always prevent ovulation. Ovulation being when the egg actually releases from the ovary to possibly be fertilized by a sperm.

But sometimes birth control only prevents implantation. When an embryo, meaning sperm and egg have already met and have created an embryo, when an embryo burrows into the uterus. birth control doesn't always prevent ovulation. Sometimes it only prevents that implantation. Now for anyone who believes that life begins at conception, this is not just a technicality, right? This is a key determination and whether or not you use a particular type of birth control. Maybe you don't ever want to have to worry about that again and so you'd like to look into a natural option that you know would not end a budding pregnancy. Or you could be someone who values natural and organic living, right? You may have hesitations about stopping the good normal functioning of a major system of your body. Maybe you've been looking at a family planning method that includes your husband and doesn't put all the pressure on your own shoulders alone. But you really want to find one that acknowledges that you are a couple and you're both a part of this. And you like that natural family planning looks at that joint fertility of a couple and encourages your husband's participation. Or it could be that your reason is one of my favorite reasons. You may just be really excited about how effective a form of natural family planning can be. So for many, this is the surprise, right? You're like, what? I've always heard natural family planning is not effective. It's like always the lowest on the chart when you go into the OBGYN office. But I encourage you to actually do some research into this, look into the effectiveness of the different natural family planning methods and I think you will be pleasantly surprised. 

Now for the Creighton model system, which is what we teach at Woven, it is up to 99.5 % effective, which is amazing. And it's also comparable to all major hormonal or intrauterine forms of birth control but without the side effects or prescriptions, right? So a big plus for considering using a natural method for planning your family. So whatever your reason is, I just want you to know it's a valid one. It's brought you to this point and it will help you as you learn. Because like I mentioned, learning isn't always easy. I want to acknowledge that adapting takes time. takes motivation. 

So, remind of exactly what motivated you to think differently in the first place. Write it on your mirror. Put it on a note in your phone. Leave a message for yourself on your bedside table.

even better. Include them all. know, list out all the amazing reasons why you are looking into an alternative, why you are doing something a bit counter culturally, why you are doing something different. And let me mention this too. Your husband's why is just as important. So if you're using this for family planning purposes, then you're not on your own as you learn a new system. It is a team effort. Even if the effort may take different shapes and forms between the two of you, okay? That's totally fine. We don't expect that process to look exactly the same for every single couple, but as I commonly mention, it takes two to tango. So you want to make sure that you're both involved in the process and that starts with understanding what his why is. What is his why? Is it the same as yours?

Did he notice that you just didn't seem yourself and he wanted you to go back to how you were before? You know, he wanted you to feel better. Is he maybe going along with it because it's something you really want to do? Totally valid. That counts too. Whatever it may be, talking about it together can make a big impact because you do not want to be going into this alone. It is so much better to have his support and encouragement.

And I want to clarify, you can do it alone. You know, if you're doing this to avoid or try to conceive pregnancy, then obviously two are involved, but you can go through the process alone, but it's just so much better when you are both in it together. And again, that's going to look different for every couple. It doesn't have to hit some sort of particular guidelines or look a particular way in order for it to say, you're both involved.

 Know that can be different. But there will be hard days and so knowing that you're both on board and both motivated is going to help you get through those hard days. Many years ago before I was a fertility care practitioner I remember standing around the office chatting with a group of co-workers and they were talking about adjusting to the challenges and rhythms of breastfeeding specifically. It was so tough.

There were so many new and unexpected hurdles and not all of them had, not all the ladies that I was talking to had the support that they wish that they had. But one of the ladies shared a piece of advice that had been passed down to her and she passed it down to the other women that she was talking to and it was, don't quit on a hard day. She was allowed to quit any other time, but not on a hard day, because hard days are when you're most likely to give up, but a good day is almost always right around the corner. And only when you really have both of those perspectives can you make the best decision about whether or not and when to quit if you do, okay? So our situation may be a little bit different, but I do think the advice is still helpful. I know it's been encouraging to me in different life situations.

And so it helps to have someone who shares that perspective as you walk through a hard day. So hear me saying it now that you can hold onto it later. You can quit, but not on a hard day.

Now here at Woven Well, we include a ton of educational episodes about fertility awareness methods, natural fertility resources, restorative reproductive medicine, and more. So if you are looking for more information on how to dive into all of that, we've got it for you. Look back over our archives. We've got over 200 episodes that I think will be helpful to you. But we also have episodes like today that provide just a little bit of encouragement that you may need when you're on the fence about trying something new or feeling down when things are especially tough. So for today, it's know your why. What is it that is inspiring you to do something new? Or maybe what was it that inspired you to do something new in the beginning? Go back and write that down. Put it in front of you. Have it be a daily reminder that even though you may be having a hard day, there's a reason why you're choosing to do this. And even a hard day doing a fertility awareness method may be so much better than a good day on birth control. So I want you to know your why. Now we have other episodes that may be helpful for you too. So I'll be sure to include some of those, maybe even our most popular episodes related to questions around birth control and fertility awareness methods.

And if you're ready to get started with a fertility awareness method for the first time, might I recommend the Creighton model system? We will have episodes in the show notes about Creighton, our favorite method at Woven. But you can also actually join us in the next few weeks for our introductory session to help you get started. Now, this is a no commitment meeting, so you do not have to be absolutely sure that you want to do it, but this is an online group session where you don't have to say a word. You can just observe, listen to me talk. I'm going to give you a lot of information so you'll be able to meet with me personally in this group setting and you are not going to be the only one there learning. Lots of ladies all there in the same place of wondering is this the right option for me?

It's so encouraging to know that there are others out there making the leap right alongside you or considering making the leap right alongside you. You are not alone in the process. I hope that's been helpful and encouraging. We have lots more episodes to come, so be sure to subscribe. And if you enjoy listening to Woven Well, we would love if you left us a review either on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen. As always, thanks for listening as we continue to explore together what it means to be woven well.