The history of Fertility Awareness Methods

Abstract

Fertility Awareness Methods (FAM) are based on the observation of physiologically occurring symptoms, so-called fertility indicators, which include: cervical mucus, basal body temperature (BBT) and changes in cervical morphology/consistency. Observations of clinical symptoms in a female patient, which change depending on periodic hormonal fluctuations, were used to determine the first and second phases of the menstrual cycle and the period around ovulation. For many years, FAMs have been successfully used by women who want to plan their motherhood in accordance with their beliefs and chosen lifestyle, in an ecological manner, without pharmacological intervention or unnecessary medical treatments.FAMs have developed over the centuries and are now a well-documented field of reproductive medicine. Initially, FAMs were used only as a tool for planning or postponing the conception of a child, now they are more and more often perceived as an effective and easy-to-use tool in the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of the therapy of cycle disorders and infertility. The aim of the study is to present the history of FAM development, to present groundbreaking discoveries and people to whom we owe the current state of knowledge about the symptoms of human fertility. A review of the medical literature was made, also referring to historical works, which included information on breakthrough discoveries in the field of human fertility. The selection of literature was made on the basis of a review of original papers and review publications in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases with the use of the following keywords: „Fertility Awareness Methods”, „Family Planning” and the „Pearl index”.