From somewhere the day 20th of her menstrual cycle, and up until the period the postovulatory infertile phase begins and it is possible for a woman to have unprotected sexual relationships again.
In order to keep track of menstrual cycle days and to be aware when the woman is most fertile, the Standard Days Method can be applied with some visual aid, which is called CycleBeads. It is a set of 32 beads, which are used to point out every day of a menstrual cycle. In order a woman would be able to identify what phase of her cycle she is in; these beads are of different colors. There is also a single red bead, which marks the first day of a woman’s period and her menstrual cycle, when the brown beads are used to mark the days, which are considered as the most infertile. White beads are used to mark the days of a fertile phase as well as those days, when a woman should be careful if she does not want to conceive.
Except beads provided, there is also a rubber ring, which is attached to the CycleBeads, and which is able to be moved. When the CycleBeads are applied as a help for the Standard Days Method, this rubber ring can be placed on the read bead on the first days of a woman’s menstrual cycle, the day when her period begins. After that she moves the ring to the next bead (one bead a day) in the direction of the arrow. As soon as this ring gets to the first white bead, it means that the woman’s fertile phase has begun.
It is possible to put the ring on the red bead every month and start all over again. With the help of these CycleBeads it becomes much easier for a woman to figure out how long her menstrual cycle lasts, just as well as whether Standard Days Method is suitable for every particular woman. In case if someone menstruation begins before the ring reaches a brown bead, or if it begins after all the beads are finished, this woman will get to know that her menstrual cycle is either shorter or longer than 26 to 32 days.
Effectiveness of the Standard Days Method
In comparison to some other methods of birth control, and particularly to such hormonal methods of contraception as the Birth Control Pill and / or Depo – Provera injection, the rate of pregnancy with perfect use is less for the Standard Days Method. In case if this Fertility Awareness Method is used perfectly, it is considered to be about 95% effective for family planning technique. If this method of birth control is used normally, its effectiveness is about 88%. Anyway, the main issue, which can influence the success or failure rate, is the proper marking of the days and whether both partners equally desire to avoid having sexual intercourse while a woman is in her fertile phase.
Advantages of the Standard Days Method
This method of Fertility Awareness is quite an easy one to learn and apply;
There are no side effects and health risks, involved in people, who use the Standard Days Method;
This method is considered to be the cost effective one;
It is 100% reversible;
There are no calculations required, as everything is possible to be done with the help of a special CycleBeads set;
This method of Natural Family Planning does not require any charts to be applied.
Disadvantages of the Standard Days Method
This Fertility Awareness Method is not possible to be used by women, who suffer from irregular menstrual periods;
In case if a woman’s cycle gets suddenly disrupted by some illness, stress, fatigue, or any other external factor, the Standard Days Method becomes much less effective, as it is considered to be in normal conditions, because the length of the menstrual cycle changes;
If a woman is a young mother, who feeds her baby with her breast milk, or in case if she has used some contraceptive injection, there is a necessity for her to wait a few menstrual cycles before starting to apply this method of Natural Family Planning.
| 
