
Like Mother, Like Daughter: Sharing the Gift of FABMs
By: Maria Sypchenko-Calzone
Director’s Note: Maria Sypchenko-Calzone, a former FACTS elective student, interviewed Sabrina,* a young woman who used the Standard Days Method to effectively plan her family by identifying a fixed fertile window each cycle. Sabrina’s mother introduced her to fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) to track her cycle when she was a teenager, and she plans to share this valuable information with her own children someday. If you have used FABMs and would like to share your story with one of our elective students, let us know here!
Meet Sabrina
Sabrina,* now 22, has been using the Standard Days Method for four years. She learned about the fertility awareness-based method (FABM) from her mother, a Family Medicine physician certified in the Standard Days Method of family planning. Sabrina started tracking her cycles via a phone app prior to becoming sexually active. However, once she started dating her boyfriend at age 19, she wanted to better understand her fertility. Sabrina planned to wait until her late 20s to begin having children, and so she wanted to find an easy-to-use, natural method to prevent an unplanned pregnancy. Sabrina knew she did not want to use hormonal contraception.
Sabrina, an only child, described herself as a healthy young woman with no significant past medical history, and a BMI of 22. Her cycles were regular with a length of 29 days. Although her mother had a history of a miscarriage, she also had regular cycles as a young woman and is otherwise healthy. After being introduced to the Standard Days Method by her mother, Sabrina scheduled a meeting with a medical professional who then informed her about the CycleBeads app, which is designed to help women using this method to track their cycles. Sabrina received answers to her questions and left the meeting confident that the method was the right choice for her.
“After being introduced to the Standard Days Method by her mother, Sabrina scheduled a meeting with a medical professional who then informed her about the CycleBeads app, which is designed to help women using this method to track their cycles.”
What is the Standard Days Method?
The Standard Days Method is an FABM that involves tracking only cycle days and is primarily used for preventing pregnancy. The method identifies a standard fertile window in a woman with regular cycles. To use the Standard Days Method a woman must have cycles between 26 and 32 days long. Days 8 through 19 are considered potential fertile days, during which a couple should abstain from sexual intercourse if they desire to avoid pregnancy. All remaining cycle days are considered non-fertile days. In the years prior to formally charting with the Standard Days Method, Sabrina had been tracking her cycles and knew exactly how long her cycles were; therefore, she was a great candidate for the method. With correct use, the Standard Days Method is 95% effective in preventing pregnancy.
“To use the Standard Days Method a woman must have cycles between 26 and 32 days long. Days 8 through 19 are considered potential fertile days.”
Day-to-Day with the Standard Days Method
“I love using the CycleBeads app on my phone,” Sabrina said. “It is such a modern and easy way to track my cycles and fertile days.”
In the app, Sabrina marks the first day of her menses, pictured as red beads. On days 8 through 19, the beads are colored white, indicating that pregnancy is possible. She abstains from sexual intercourse on these days because she does not desire pregnancy at this time. On days 20 through 29, the beads are colored brown, indicating she is not likely to get pregnant on those days.
For Sabrina and her partner, using an FABM has further strengthened their communication as his cooperation also impacts the successful use of the method.
“It was so important that my boyfriend knows about the process and that he is fully supportive and understanding,” Sabrina said. “It brings us closer, establishes expectations for each other, and gives us the freedom to make family-planning decisions when we’re ready.”
“For Sabrina and her partner, using the Standard Days Method has further strengthened their communication as his cooperation also impacts the successful use of the method.”
Passing On the Message
Speaking of her own hopes to plan a family in the future, Sabrina explained that if she had a daughter, she would want to teach her about natural family planning (NFP). She is grateful that her mother introduced her to FABMs and for the FABM instructors who have helped her over the years. The Standard Days Method has enabled Sabrina to successfully prevent pregnancy for the past four years, and she feels confident about her ability to choose when to start a family.
As a future family medicine physician, I am excited to utilize and apply the knowledge I have gained from the interview and the FACTS elective with my future patients. It was eye-opening to learn about the different methods from FABM-trained physicians and to understand the myriad applications of the methods for both family-planning and reproductive health.
*Names have been changed to respect the privacy of the interviewee. All information is shared with permission.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maria Sypchenko-Calzone
Maria Sypchenko-Calzone is a fourth-year medical student at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine- Georgia campus. She has a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from Georgia State University. She will be starting Family Medicine residency at Lexington Medical Center in South Carolina. She strives to provide education and advocate for women’s health. She enrolled in both sections of the FACTS elective to learn more about natural family planning methods so she can provide comprehensive education for her patients in the future.