Why measure the basal body temperature? I’ll give you 7 reasons why measuring the wake-up temperature during the period for the desired child is important!
What is the basal body temperature anyway?
Before I outline the 7 major advantages of measuring the basal body temperature, I’ll briefly summarize what the basal body temperature is. Although 10 years ago, I had no idea of the basal body temperature, but now, I’m very happy knowing it in detail.
The basal body temperature is your body temperature, which in the best case can always be measured immediately after awaking in the morning in the mouth under the tongue, vulvina or in the butt. With an appropriate basal thermometer and a cycle chart, you can document a cycle curve. In combination with other ovulation signs such as cervical mucus or cervix, you can clearly determine your fertile days in the cycle. This methodology is called Symptothermal Method or natural-family planning. The idea is simple: If you have sexual intercourse on fertile days close to ovulation, you can get pregnant more easily or faster.
C Gnoth et. al. Hum Reprod. 2003 Sep;18(9):1959-66.
From studies, 81% of women were pregnant at 6 months – and 60% without this method. Thus, it’s worth documenting your ovulation signs such as cervical mucus and basal body temperature if you want to get pregnant. An accurate step-by-step guide for observing, documenting and determining the fertile days of your cycle, including exercise cycles and solutions, can be found in our eBook “When am I fertile?.” So, now let’s look at the 7 reasons why measuring the basal body temperature is important.
Advantage 1: Determine ovulation accurately
It’s only by measuring the basal body temperature in combination with the documentation of cervical mucus or cervix that you can accurately determine ovulation in a few days. Due to the special hormonal processes of the cycle, the basal body temperature increases during the cyclic phase of ovulation. With the evaluation rules of the Symptothermal method, which are all explained in detail in our eBook, you can clearly see the cycle days of your ovulation.
C. Gnoth 1996 Zentralblatt für Gynäkologie 118(12):650-4 · February 1996
Then, in combination with your cervical mucus peak and temperature rise, you can know exactly when you ovulated. The fact that you can see your ovulation only from your basal body temperature retrospectively has obviously no meaning at first glance if you want to become pregnant. But in combination with the cervical mucus, you can estimate the optimal period on time.
Advantage 2: Recognizing cycle characteristics
In my experience, the most important advantage of measuring the basal body temperature is in later cycle diagnoses. Basal body temperature is a sign of progesterone rate – cervical mucus is also a sign of estrogen levels in the body. By documenting basal body temperature and cervical mucus in a cycle sheet or App, you can use estrogen and progesterone to monitor the most important control hormones in the natural cycle ovary. Observing the basal body temperature and mucus is equivalent to doing a hormonal test every day and then visualizing it as a graph.
menstrual cycle with hormones and ovulation signs
So, you can see from the basal body temperature curve, for example, if you have luteal insufficiency. You can also determine if you have a prolonged or shortened ovulation phase and thus recognize signs of ovarian insufficiency, PCO syndrome and other cycle features. Isn’t that great? I have often treated women for whom the cycle diagnostics has contributed decisively to a natural pregnancy. I myself had a luteal insufficiency, which I noticed thanks to the Symptothermal Method and successfully treated with the help of a doctor and a Naturopath. Without cycle diagnostics and knowledge of my luteal insufficiency, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get pregnant naturally. Today, I have two healthy children and I became pregnant during the first cycle of exercise with Symptothermal Method. Every day, when I see my kids playing, I say thanks to the Symptothermal Method and cycle diagnostics. In our eBook we have written an additional chapter on cycle diagnostics with examples of real women’s cycles suffering from luteal insufficiency and PCOS, so you can get the most out of this method. All you need to get started with Symptothermal Method right away, I’ve assembled in the Get Pregnant Starter Set. You’ll find every important aspect so that your start with the Symptothermal Method is the best possible and succeeds immediately.
Advantage 3: Better understanding of your cycle and body
The Symptothermal Method is an important method for determining fertile days or getting pregnant. For many women, seeing their ovulation for the first time based on the basal body temperature. Without measuring the basal body temperature, you can’t experience that moment as a woman. The better you understand your body and cycle, the more understanding you’ll have of your overall self. When I looked at my temperature curve for the first time in my pregnancy cycle, I was only happy that I was pregnant. Then I slowly realized that this cycle was something very special that I could only see once (or twice, trice… D) in my life. I could see on the cycle which sex probably led to the desired child. Likewise, I could tell when my ovulation was and much more. From cycle observation, getting pregnant even with an extended waiting time to experience. Most often, I experienced women doing well to actively do something that fulfills their greatest wish. Many women no longer feel like a victim waiting for the next doctor’s diagnosis. They feel competent enough even after a few exercise cycles and can even take over some of the diagnostics. The more cycles you have, the more accurate and precise the cycle diagnosis can be to reduce the causes of the previously unfulfilled desire to have children. It’s therefore very useful to measure the basal body temperature to better understand your cycle and body in general.
Advantage 4: Better stress reduction and perception
If you want to get pregnant, it’s always important to keep the stress level as low as possible. Studies shows that the more relaxed you’re, the better your natural fertility is. Many women experience excessive stress and pressure by not knowing exactly when their ovulation is or was. They then move cycle after cycle with LH-tests and are often very uncertain of the cycle phase in which they are. By measuring the basal body temperature, much more clarity comes in, but only if you have learned and applied the Symptothermal Method. Simply measuring the basal body temperature without getting informed, using an X-cycle app or another automated cycle computers, in my experience, does not bring the desired results.
It’s also much easier to determine the start of fertile period with cervical mucus than with an LH-test. If the LH-test is positive, you have about 24 hours left to have sexual intercourse. However, the combination of cervical mucus and basal body temperature usually results in a more fertile window in the cycle. Now, if you take into account that sperm in the cervical mucus can survive for three to five days, then you are really less stressed when you determine the fertile days with basal body temperature and cervical mucus. Finally, sex is avoided at the touch of a button -there are only a few more days left. Experts say that couples use about 80% of their reproductive potential with a single sex during the very fertile period. It was the same for me, because with the second child I became pregnant with only one sex in the cycle.
Advantage 5: Detecting pregnancy without pregnancy test
Few people knows this, but truly, with the help of the basal body temperature, you can easily and at a little expense discover whether you’re pregnant or not. It works without a pregnancy test. Incidentally, I only congratulate my clients when the basal body temperature curve clearly indicates that the pregnancy has occurred. The basic idea is very simple: the basal body temperature increases around ovulation. If you’re pregnant, the basal body temperature will be high and most women will not see any bleeding. Then, if you aren’t, the temperature must go down again at the end of the cycle and the bleeding must eventually start, otherwise you simply can’t start a new cycle. How many days does it take to at least increase the basal body temperature so as to be able to recognize a pregnancy-you’ll equally find this in the eBook.
Advantage 6: Clearly calculate the birth period
A very practical advantage is the possibility of a clear calculation of the birth period. I deliberately wrote birth period because, although it’s actually a calculated birthdate, but it’s perfectly normal for the actual birth to take place within three weeks before and up to three weeks after that date. Of course, you will say, that you can calculate birth date with the last menstruation. Yes, that’s true, but unfortunately, this calculation is based only on a lump sum. This calculation assumes that your ovulation was always exactly 14 days after the last menstruation, i.e. the 14th day of the cycle. With me, my ovulation was mostly between the 20th and 25th cycle day-so clearly after the 14th cycle day and the same goes for many women. My desired child came about two days after my self-calculations. With the second child, the deviation from the calculated birth date was 6 days. Calculated from the last menstruation, the birth would then have been on ET + 16! This is really fatal in many cases, as maternity and most midwives after ET + 14 order at the latest an artificial initiation. Fortunately, I informed myself sufficiently in advance.
Especially in women with PCO syndrome and other cycle features, such a birth date calculation is extremely critical and almost always incorrect. In my opinion and experience, it’s best to use the birthdate (-/period) based on ovulation and Symptothermal Method, especially if you have no standard cycle, which will make a big difference and even the latest methods of calculation using the conception period (the sex day that probably led to pregnancy) are, I think, not recommended, given that this date had three days away with me. Sex and actual conception can be spaced from five to eight days! During the temperature rise, you’re always on the safe side when it comes to calculating the birth date (period).
Advantages 7: Detecting birth signs
Yes, you can equally use the basal body temperature to find out about the birth date. I myself started measuring my basal body temperature again just before my children’s births. Shortly before birth, it can happen that the birth falls off abruptly and you get such a clear birth sign. Thus, a sudden drop in the basal body temperature can be a birth sign announcing the imminent birth. Personally, however, I had not seen such a sharp drop in temperature before birth.
Conclusion
So, those were my 7 reasons why it’s important to measure the basal body temperature. In case you figure some, write them in the comments. Evaluation of the basal body temperature curve and the determination of fertile days in combination with cervical mucus can’t only increase the likelihood of getting pregnant. No, it can also help you understand why you’re not pregnant yet and factors affecting your cycle. The Basal body temperature can help narrow down the date of birth and recognize without a pregnancy test that you’re truly pregnant. Any woman who has never seen her ovulation on the basal body temperature curve will agree with me and say, “it’s worth it, it’s a piece of the feminine condition that everyone should live at least once in life.” I’d also like to encourage you with this article to measure your basal body temperature and learn about yourself and your cycle.
I wish you all the best on your way to the desired child
YOURS ANNE
