Barrier Methods of Birth Control Combined With Fertility Awareness Methods

A Fertility Awareness Method (sympto-thermal, cervical changes and/or cervical mucus alone) is used to identify the fertile days and infertile days. The couple uses infertile days for intercourse without a barrier method of birth control. They use a barrier method of birth control, such as a condom, diaphragm, or spermicidal when having intercourse on fertile days. The couple’s intention is to avoid pregnancy but to not abstain from intercourse on fertile days. When they have intercourse on fertile days using a barrier method of birth control, they can expect the effectiveness of that barrier method for avoiding pregnancy.

Rules

Correct use of barrier method, and best knowledge of fertility awareness method of choice

Best users

• Couples who have difficulty abstaining on fertile days
• Women for whom pregnancy avoidance is not a top priority

Specific Advantages

• Abstinence on fertile days is not necessary
• Women will have an idea of her chance of becoming pregnant by knowing where she is at in her cycle and whether or not she is using a fertile day

Challenges

• Not acceptable for individual belonging to certain religious groups
• Barrier methods may interfere with cervical mucus observations by causing continuous mucus discharge due to vaginal irritation from the method
• The lubricative quality of Type E cervical mucus secretions can contribute to easier displacement of barrier method products
• Woman can expect the effectiveness of the barrier method on fertile days, not the effectiveness of abstinence
• Barrier methods cost money, and may not always be readily available

If I use a barrier method on fertile days, does this lessen the effectiveness of the Justisse method?

  If a person uses a barrier method to avoid pregnancy on a day that they have decided is fertile according to the Justisse Method -- they are not using the Justisse Method to avoid pregnancy. They are using a barrier method -- with the added awareness that it is a day of fertility on which they are choosing to have barrier-protected intercourse. In this instance, they are using the Justisse Method as a method of fertility awareness, not as a method of birth control, in that they are aware they are fertile but not using abstinence to avoid pregnancy.

 The high rate of effectiveness for the Justisse Method as a method of birth control is based on abstinence from sexual intercourse, or any activity that allows semen to come in contact with a woman's genital area on the days she is experiencing cervical mucus, during the count of 3 following her mucus days, and according to other Justisse Method guidelines.

 Barrier methods are less effective as a method of birth control than the Justisse Method. If a couple chooses to use a barrier method on a fertile day, the effectiveness for avoiding pregnancy is that of the barrier method they use. Remember barrier methods can only fail on a fertile day, the rest of the time they are redundant.

 The advantage of using the Justisse Method is that the couple has a greater awareness of the possibility of becoming pregnant because they know whether the woman is fertile on any given day. This awareness gives them more information and control in making decisions to avoid pregnancy or to use or not use barrier methods.

 Additionally, when barrier methods are tested for effectiveness, the testers do not take into consideration whether or not a woman is experiencing a fertile day or an infertile day. The researcher’s testing assumption is that the woman and/or her partner are ignorant of that information. They test on the assumption that every day is a fertile day. Technically this skews the results, making barriers seem more effective than they are. Many times the couples being tested would be using the barrier method on an infertile day, and the barrier method is irrelevant, as the couple could not have become pregnant anyway.

 A special note of caution to users of barrier methods during identified fertile days.

When the woman is experiencing, cervical mucus (slippery or lubricative, clear, cloudy-clear, stretchy, wet, egg-white like) diaphragms and cervical caps displace more easily and condoms slide off more easily. So, users are advised to pay close attention to this. If they are using barrier methods during identified fertile days and a condom should break or come off, or the diaphragm or cervical cap should displace, alternative birth control such as the morning after pill is advised. The spermicidal lubricant on most condoms is not very effective in killing sperm when cervical mucus is present, especially in abundance. Use of spermicidal jelly or foam with the condom is a more effective choice during identified fertile days. A diaphragm’s or cervical cap’s maximum effectiveness depends on them being used with spermicidal jelly or foam.