Hormonal balance is key to the well functioning of the human body. One of the missions of Naturalmom.com is to educate woman about the potential health risks to themselves and their families of altering their hormones. We aim to teach woman and men natural methods of birth control using cervical mucus and basal body temperature. The first section of this page will highlight a few of the reasons we believe that people should avoid synthetic hormones. The second section of this page will highlight the very effective method of birth control that we advocate.

Many woman take invasive hormonal forms of birth control. When we see a woman who is on birth control pills and gaining weight, not bleeding monthly, and has recurring yeast infections, we show concern. The health histories that come through the consultations that we do at Naturalmom. com often reveal the same profile: A history of ingesting diets high in carbohydrates, antibiotics and hormonal based birth control drugs. Every day we are being bombarded and pulled by advertising, convenience, and our high paced lifestyles to put synthetic substances into our bodies. These substance may cause many of our health problems. These health problems may not show up until our years later. Time and time again, we have found that when we help people to take these substances out of their day to day lives, their lives go better.

The use of such hormonal solutions to birth control, in our opinion, poses far too great a health risk. By taking such hormonal based drugs, women increase their risk of stroke, breast cancer, uterine cancer, immune system problem, hormonal problems, nausea, fluid retention and fibroid enlargement. There are studies that show that candidiasis or yeast problems are doubled among birth control pill users. Birth control pills appear to create a folic acid deficiency as well as pyridoxine deficiency (Vitamin B6). A deficiency in B6 is associated with depression. If the hormonal therapy stops your bleeding (as many do on Depo-Provera) you decrease your body's avenues for removing toxins. (Many health thinkers believe that woman have a longer life span than men because they remove toxins once a month through menstruation.)

Birth control pills are not our only source of synthetic hormones. A woman's hormonal system is so sensitive it can be damaged by the hormones in dairy products. Dairy products have been linked to infertility, endometriosis, menstrual cramps, heavy menstrual flow, tender breasts, ovarian tumors and cysts, and vaginal infections. Common pesticides, plastics, herbicides and industrial pollutants contain man-made estrogen. Commercial beef and pork are pumped full of hormones in order to increase profits. These man-made estrogens, or “xenoestrogens,” can increase both men’s and women’s estrogen levels hundreds of times. Fifty years ago, the average sperm count was 113 million per ml. Today that value has decreased to 65 million.

Finally, birth control pills can range in price from $2,000-$4,000 for a 10 year supply. It is not profitable for either doctors or pharmaceutical companies to teach you about natural methods of birth control. Besides the initial investment of learning how to interpret monthly bodily changes, the cost of a basal thermometer, and a book or two, there is little cost to a couple using natural birth control.

Did you know that a woman is only fertile a few days a month. Most people don't. When you realize this, you can see how easy it can be to use natural birth control and not use synthetic hormones. The method we teach is called "natural" because it is based on recognizing the natural changes in a woman's fertility cycle. These changes show up in the cervical fluid and the basal body temperature.

Cervical fluid is produced by special cells inside the cervix and changes character during the monthly cycle. There are about 100 gland like crypts producing cervical fluid. In the beginning and the end of the cycle when the hormone estrogen is low, the fluid is scant, sticky and opaque. In the middle of the cycle when the hormone estrogen is higher, the cervical fluid changes to slippery and egg white. During this estrogen peak, you may even be able to take the cervical fluid between your fingers and stretch it into an unbroken shimmering thread. This day of "spinnbarkeit" fluid tends to be the most fertile day.

The basal body temperature is the temperature of your body at complete rest. You take your temperature each morning at the same time before you have even moved. You use a special thermometer called a Basal Thermometer. It is different from a regular thermometer because it records just the degrees of 95-100 and has a mark for each 1/10th of a degree. By taking and recording your daily basal body temperature, you will create charts that show you exactly when you ovulate. Between menstruation and ovulation, you will have relatively low temperatures. Due to an increase in progesterone during ovulation, you temperatures will rise about 6/10th of one degree. This rise can happen in a day or it can stair-step up over a period of several days.

Many of us at Naturalmom.com have found educating ourselves on these two natural changes in our bodies is a fun, inexpensive, empowering and effective method of birth control. We would love to assist you in learning these methods.

For more information contact:

The Optimal Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin at (608) 242-0200. Or E-mail to schedule an appointment online, by phone or in person.