Capotosto, M. P., & Fu, M. R. (2023). A Pilot Qualitative Case Study of Women's Experiences with Fertility Awareness-Based Methods. The Linacre Quarterly, 90(1), 82-93. https://doi.org/10.1177/00243639221133609
Capotosto MP, Fu MR. A Pilot Qualitative Case Study of Women's Experiences with Fertility Awareness-Based Methods. Linacre Q. 2023;90(1):82-93. doi:10.1177/00243639221133609
Capotosto, Melissa Pérez, and Mei R. Fu. "A Pilot Qualitative Case Study of Women's Experiences with Fertility Awareness-Based Methods." The Linacre Quarterly, vol. 90, no. 1, 2023, pp. 82-93.
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Two women using fertility awareness methods felt in control
In this pilot qualitative case study, two women reported that learning to track their cycles gave them a sense of control. Both conceived with fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) after about eleven to thirteen months. Both said their healthcare providers gave no guidance on natural methods.
Key Findings
Both participants were married women in their thirties with graduate degrees in nursing. Each had a prior pregnancy loss and a live birth after approximately eleven to thirteen months of FABMs.
Analysis of the narrative interviews identified five themes: a sense of control, experimentation with different methods, overcoming self-doubt, enduring pressure, and a lack of guidance from healthcare providers.
After six months of trialing cervical mucus, timed intercourse and fertility tracking apps, the women decided to use urinary luteinizing hormone (LH) strips to detect ovulation.
The women sensed a referral was coming and had no counseling on their chosen FABM; both felt assisted reproductive technology receives more discussion than natural ways to conceive.
The authors conclude that the women preferred natural ways to detect ovulation and need professional guidance.
Interpretation
The study is a pilot qualitative case study based on narrative interviews. Two women, selected through purposive sampling, each completed an interview of about 40 minutes by Zoom in November 2020, and the authors coded the transcripts into themes. The findings describe, in the women's own words, how each experienced the path to pregnancy with several FABMs. The authors note limitations in data saturation and participant homogeneity: both women were married, employed, and held graduate nursing degrees in their thirties. They recommend replication with a more diverse set of participants and regard the five themes as a starting point.
RRM Context
Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM) cooperates with the ovulatory cycle, and charting is how a woman and her partner observe it. The women described learning to track their cycles as building confidence in their own bodies, which matches the body literacy that RRM education aims to develop. RRM approaches conception as a shared project of the couple.
Our editorial summary of this paper, not the article's abstract.
Abstract
This pilot qualitative case study was able to elicit rich data enabling a description of how women went through the journey of achieving pregnancy using fertility awareness-based methods. Findings underscore that women preferred using natural ways to detect ovulation and would recommend other women to do so, but with healthcare providers' guidance. The findings of this case study can serve as a starting point to provide a framework to understand women's experiences of enduring trial and error with multiple fertility awareness-based methods before discovering their effective method. Findings emphasize the importance for healthcare providers to guide women in using fertility awareness-based methods.
