The change in your body temperature is very slight, so you need to use a special thermometer. You can use a regular digital thermometer or buy a basal thermometer. A basal thermometer shows you the temperature in tenths of a degree.
This allows you to note tiny changes in body heat. This thermometer is faster and more exact than a regular thermometer. Use a simple Fahrenheit temperature chart or Celsius temperature chart to track your temperature for several months.
You can find a basal thermometer or digital thermometer in a pharmacy or in the pharmacy section in many grocery stores.
You can also find kits that include materials for measuring and charting BBT. These items are low in cost. Author: Healthwise Staff. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Carefully tracking your basal body temperature with a basal body thermometer will help you know when ovulation has occurred, but won't predict when it will happen in the future.
Basal body temperature can be used in combination with cervical mucus changes to determine when fertility is highest. Are you using Clue to track your bleeding patterns?
Download the app and start today. Basal body temperature BBT is your body's temperature at rest, like when you first wake up in the morning. Your reproductive hormones have a measurable impact on your temperature 1,2.
A BBT thermometer is more sensitive than a regular household thermometer, and measures temperature more precisely. Tracking your BBT is an easy way to get an idea of if and when you're ovulating. Tracking BBT with Clue can help make your predictions more accurate. Following ovulation, a rise in basal body temperature that lasts for 18 or more days may be an early indicator of pregnancy.
The basal body temperature method is often combined with the cervical mucus method of natural family planning, where you keep track of cervical secretions throughout the course of a menstrual cycle. You might also use an electronic fertility monitor to measure hormone levels in your urine, which can tell you which days you're fertile. This combination of approaches is sometimes referred to as the symptothermal or symptohormonal method.
Likewise, using the basal body temperature method for birth control doesn't pose any direct risks, but it doesn't offer protection from sexually transmitted infections — and it's one of the least effective natural family planning methods.
As many as 1 in 4 women — maybe even more — who use fertility awareness-based methods to prevent pregnancy will become pregnant after one year of typical use. Using the basal body temperature method along with another fertility awareness-based method for birth control may improve the method's effectiveness.
But, the method requires motivation and diligence. If you don't want to conceive, you and your partner must avoid having sex or use a barrier method of contraception during your fertile days each month. Tracking your basal body temperature doesn't require special preparation.
However, if you want to use the basal body temperature along with another fertility awareness-based method for birth control, consult your health care provider first if:.
Take your basal body temperature every morning before getting out of bed. Use a digital oral thermometer or one specifically designed to measure basal body temperature. Make sure you get at least three hours of uninterrupted sleep each night to ensure an accurate reading.
For the most accurate results, always take your temperature using the same method. Try to take your temperature at the same time each day, when you first wake up. Track your temperature readings. There are also logistics to consider. Remembering to do that the second you wake up before doing anything else might be tough.
Prefer to go the smart route? Taking your temperature with a BBT thermometer takes about five minutes. Using a BBT chart is safe, simple and inexpensive. With an accuracy rate of 76 to 88 percent, BBT charts are considerably less reliable than ovulation test strips. And keeping an accurate BBT chart calls for some serious commitment.
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