Natural KB, prevents pregnancy without contraception

Generally, when it comes to preventing pregnancy, most people will choose to use the various types of contraceptives available. There are various contraceptive options available, from birth control pills, IUDs, birth control injections, birth control implants, and so on. However, there are also those who try to prevent pregnancy can also be done naturally. Do you know what natural birth control options you can take? Check out the following explanation.

Various natural birth control options to prevent pregnancy

Preventing pregnancy does not only have to use contraceptives. Natural birth control can also help you delay having a child. What are the natural birth control options available to you?

1. Not having sex

One of the natural birth control that you can try to prevent pregnancy which is guaranteed to be 100% effective is abstinence or not having sex. In addition, you also certainly will not experience sexually transmitted diseases from your partner if you do not have sex.

Not having sex means not having sexual intercourse (penetration) or sexual outercourse. However, if you want to use birth control as a natural contraceptive, you and your partner must agree to both refrain from sexually arousing each other.

2. Intercourse is cut off

Interrupted intercourse is also known as "going outside". This means that during sexual intercourse, the male partner will pull his penis out of the vagina before ejaculation.

In order to practice this natural birth control, you need very high concentration to do it successfully. However, not everyone can concentrate fully during intercourse. The male partner may accidentally pass a small amount of fluid while the penis is still in the vagina.

In certain cases, this fluid may contain sperm in it. So, this natural birth control can be said to fail if the sperm cell manages to swim into the uterus and fertilize an egg, pregnancy can occur.

According to Office on Women's Health, 22 out of 100 couples who use this method as natural birth control have a risk of experiencing pregnancy.

3. Method fertility awareness

Fertility awareness which is also known as natural family planning. This method is a natural birth control method that is done by recording your menstrual cycle, so you can know when the ovaries release eggs each month (ovulation).

If you want to prevent pregnancy using this natural birth control, you can do it by avoiding sex with a partner when you are fertile. Usually, the most fertile period of a woman is nearing ovulation.

There are several ways you can do to calculate your fertile period if you want to use it fertility awareness as a natural birth control, including:

Check basal body temperature

One way you can check your ovulation period is to check your basal body temperature. Your body temperature will usually vary throughout your menstrual cycle.

At the start of the cycle, your body temperature will be considerably lower, whereas, your body temperature will increase slightly when you ovulate. To use this method to check your ovulation period, you must do it every day, and write it down on a chart or chart fertility awareness which you can get from the doctor or nurse at the hospital.

Check cervical mucus

Natural birth control that you can also be an option is to check the cervical mucus. This method is done to find out when you enter the fertile period. Changes in the cervical mucus that you produce can help you know when you will ovulate.

When you enter your fertile period, avoid having sex with your partner, or use a condom if you can't hold back your sex drive. However, when you are not entering your fertile period, you can have sex with a partner without safety.

To find out changes in cervical mucus, you have to check it every day. One of the best ways to determine the consistency of cervical mucus is to rub it with your thumb and index finger. Then, try to move the two fingers apart to see the thickness of the cervical mucus.

When you are just starting to use this method to check your fertile period, still avoid having penetration with your partner in one menstrual cycle. The reason is, having sex can change the texture of cervical mucus, so this can make you confused.

Calendar method

One method that you can also do to check your fertile period as part of natural birth control is to prevent pregnancy with the calendar method. However, before you use this method, you should at least count your menstrual cycles throughout six cycles.

You should mark the first day of your period as the first day of your cycle. Then, do the same thing every time you have your period.

Count the number of days spanning from the first day of the previous cycle and the first day of the current cycle. The number of days is the number of days in one cycle. Everyone's cycle is different, so never compare your cycle to someone else's.

If you want to know when you are entering your most fertile period with the calendar method, you can do several things, as follows.

Find the shortest cycle you have experienced
Subtract 18 from the total number of days in your cycle
When you get your subtracted result, mark the number of days that you subtracted from with X
The day you marked with an X is the first day of your fertile period in each cycle

4. Provide exclusive breastfeeding for your baby

One way that you can also do so you don't get pregnant is to give your baby exclusive breastfeeding as a natural birth control. The reason is, breastfeeding can help you delay ovulation for up to six months after you give birth.

Natural birth control is classified as effective for a certain period of time because the hormones needed to stimulate milk production can prevent the release of hormones that stimulate ovulation. However, since natural birth control is only able to help you delay pregnancy by up to six months, you should use another method of contraception after that period.

In addition, this natural birth control can only work effectively if you breastfeed your baby every four hours, and once every six hours at night with both your breasts. The benefits of using this method as your preferred natural birth control method are:

Has no side effects
It's easy and doesn't cost anything
Does not affect the balance of hormones in the body
Does not require any type of medication or medical advice from a doctor
Work effectively
Sex with a partner feels more enjoyable without interruption of contraception

5. Outercourse

Another natural birth control option is outercourse. This means you can still have sexual relations with your partner. It's just, you don't sexual intercourse like penetration. Moment outercourse, You are only allowed to engage in sexual activities such as kissing, massage, oral sex, masturbation, mutual squeezing, or sex using sex toys.

Of course outercourse can be the right birth control option for you if you want to prevent pregnancy naturally. The reason is, you can still enjoy sexual activity with a partner as long as there is no exchange of body fluids from the genitals. If you want to apply this natural birth control, you can use dental dams or condoms to reduce the risk of transmitting venereal diseases.

6. Herbs and traditional medicine

Herbal ingredients and traditional medicines are said to be natural contraceptives to prevent pregnancy. However, research to prove how effective herbs are as natural birth control is still very limited.

One of the herbs that has been tested through a study is turmeric. Research published in the journal Molecular Reproduction and Development shows that the curcumin contained in turmeric can be an ideal natural contraceptive.

This study was conducted by collecting human and mouse sperm, then incubating it to determine its effect on motility (sperm movement), acrosome reactions (the process of sperm penetrating an egg), and fertilization. As a result, the incubation of sperm with curcumin resulted in decreased motility, acrosome, and fertilization of the mice.

Not only that, giving curcumin, especially through the vagina of rats, caused a drastic decrease in fertility. The study is the first study to prove curcumin's effects in the form of inhibiting sperm function, fertilization, and fertility.

After reading the explanation above, you will probably consider the best contraception for you and your partner. Don't hesitate to consult a doctor to make the right decision.