GSE
Fertility monitor - an alternative family planning "Tool" for birth control and monitoring fertilty
(1) Fertility Monitors - "Family planning tool"
What is a fertility monitor?
A fertility monitor (also called
ovulation monitor, ovulation microscope, fertility microscope, saliva monitor, saliva
microscope) is a device that alerts to impending
or actual ovulation - The monitor requires samples of
saliva, urine or cervical fluid to run the test
For what purpose is the Fertility Monitor Used?
• Trying to become pregnant
• To determine whether you're ovulating
• Trying to avoid pregnancy
• To enhance awareness of your menstrual cycles
When is the Fertility Monitor Used?
The fertility monitor should be used around the
days of the menstrual cycle when a woman can conceive:
There are
only about 3 days when her egg is available for fertilization Sperm can
survive up to 72 hours (3 days) in the
vagina and uterus - so if sexual intercourse occurs up to 3 days before
a woman is fertile, she can still potentially become pregnant.
Thus, there are about 6 days per month that a woman can conceive
Two good fertility monitors
The Fertile-Focus®-
hand-held mini-magnification lens
OvaCue - high-tech, higher priced, electrolyte
fertility monitor
Fertile Focus® Ovulation Microscope (hand-held mini-magnification lens)
The Fertile-Focus® is
about the size and shape of a lipstick holder and sells for about $28
( 9/2018) on
amazon.com
The Fertile-Focus®
(by Fairhaven) is a
simple tool to make it easy to examine saliva to check for crystalline patterns
indicating hormonal changes -
It is scientifically well established that
hormones filter into saliva - and that:
-
Just Prior to and During fertility - a fern pattern
can be seen in saliva under a high powered magnification lens.
-
During non-fertile days - only random and shapeless
dots will be visible.
If you want to check whether you may be fertile,
you simply:
1. Make sure you haven't
smoked, taken medication or had anything to eat or drink for 2 hours -
It is best to use it at the same time every day;
2. Using fingertip put a small amount of saliva on the slide
- and allow it to dry ( 5-7 minutes);
3. Insert the slide into the magnification lens and push a little
button - to illuminate the sample.
If you are just about to become fertile or if you are fertile,
you will easily see a beautiful crystalline fern pattern under the magnification
lens (see below "Analysis of Saliva - Detection
of Fertility") - This is an easy and convenient way for you to monitor your
hormonal changes and enhance your awareness of your menstrual cycle. If you track
your cycles and fertility on a calendar, soon you will have a keen awareness of
where you are in your monthly cycle, and what is happening hormonally in your body.
Identifies Cycles When there has been no Ovulation.
Cycle awareness can be especially helpful for women
who tend to have anovulatory cycles (no ovulation occurs and thus there is infertility,
and no Progesterone is produced). If you know that you haven't ovulated in any given
cycle, and thus your ovary won't be producing Progesterone, you can then supplement
with Progesterone that month and avoid estrogen dominance symptoms such as PM
Progesterone Therapy
The ovulation
kits that measure hormones in urine to determine fertility tend to be expensive,
messy, and can only be used once.
In
contrast, at the cost of not much more than one ovulation kit, the Ovu-Tec®can
be used over and over, and has a lifetime manufacturer's warranty.
During fertile days
- a sample of saliva looks like "ferns" During the non-fertile days - only shapeless "dotted" structures may be
seen.
"Fern" structures start 3-4 days before
ovulation and end 2-3 days after ovulation occurs - The fertile period lasts less than one week. In addition to clearly
"dotted" or "fern" patterns, the saliva sample may appear to be a combination
of the two images. This is called a "transition" pattern. During this
period, it may be possible that the woman is fertile. If you do not
become pregnant during the indicated periods and wish to become pregnant,
it is recommended that you consult a physician.
Refer to the following for interpretation of saliva
specimens:
In the FERTILE stage your
saliva will dry in "fern-like"patterns. Ferns appear
about 3-4 days before ovulation begins and continue 2-3
days after it stops.
The
TRANSITION period is the most difficult to determine - it
will show a combination of dots and ferns. You are less
fertile, but conception is still possible.
During the INFERTILE period the pattern
is random, and unconnected dots appear.
WARNING
The quality of saliva specimen may be affected by smoking, alcohol
consumption, medications, or food consumption - Wait until 2 hours after
smoking, eating, drinking or taking medications.
OvaCue - High-Tech, higher priced, electrolyte fertility
monitor
The Fair Haven Health OvaCue ™
fertility monitor (by Zetec)
uses a
patented method to measure the electrolytes in both the saliva and cervical fluid
(if you have purchased the cervical accessory) to
determine what point the fertility cycle is in .
The OvaCue ™
providesa visual indicator of your fertility status for the day and a projected
date of peak fertility. Automatically tracking and storing information
about your cycles for up to 4 months.According
to wholefamilyhealth.com. "You record daily readings and
interpret the pattern according to instructions.(Adding the vaginal sensor) allows
you to completely define the fertile window.
A few days after the Cue Peak, the luteinizing hormone (LH)
in the blood increases and decreases very sharply over a period of 24
hours (the LH surge). As LH reaches its peak in the blood, there is
a definite change in the reproductive tract which can be measured by
the Cue vaginal sensor. Mucus secretion increases, and the electrolyte
content of the mucus changes. This change causes a sharp, clear drop
and increase in these readings. It is this lowest level reading and
subsequent rise that the Cue uses to confirm ovulation."
The vaginal sensor alerts to ovulation a day or two before (with
the "VR Low") and again on the day of ovulation (with the "VR Rise").
You will not see the vaginal sensor alert unless you are definitely
ovulating. The ability to predict ovulation up to a week in advance
and then definitely confirm ovulation as it happens makes this monitor
superior to all the other brands. It gives a long enough advance warning
about ovulation, and then actually confirms ovulation right before and
during.
The OvaCue™ fertility monitor can be
used safely and effectively for birth control. Although the manufacturer
makes no such claim.
The OvaCue™ costs from ~ $240-$350 (depending
on which model and accessories you choose). Without affiliation, here are a couple
of sites where you can purchase the OverCue Fertility Monitor:
Wholefamilyhealth.com
Beyondfertility.net
