'Fertility Awareness-Based Methods' and subfertility: a systematic review

Thijssen A; Meier A; Panis K; Ombelet W

Fertility Awareness Effectiveness

'Fertility Awareness-Based Methods' and subfertility: a systematic review

Thijssen A, Meier A, Panis K, Ombelet W

Published November 7, 2014 Facts, Views & Vision in ObGyn, 6(3), 113-123

PMID 25374654 PMC PMC4216977

RRM Academy Synopsis

Cervical mucus tracking finds the highest-pregnancy days in a cycle

A review of 10 cohort studies found that cervical mucus monitoring identifies the days with the highest chance of pregnancy. The review found a good match between mucus quality and pregnancy chances in fertile couples. The match was weaker in couples with reduced fertility.

Key Findings

The authors screened 3331 MEDLINE hits and selected 10 studies: nine prospective cohort studies and one retrospective cohort study.
In a 2003 retrospective study, the probability of pregnancy on the mucus peak day was 0.38 for fertile couples and 0.14 for couples with reduced fertility.
In a 2006 study, the probability of conception rose from 0.003 on days with mucus score 1 to 0.29 on days with mucus score 4.
Across the studies, vaginal discharge quality followed each cycle's pregnancy probability well for normally fertile couples and less well for couples with reduced fertility.

Interpretation

This systematic review looked at ten cohort studies, nine prospective and one retrospective. Each study tracked how cervical mucus quality lines up with pregnancy chances within a cycle. Mucus tracking matched pregnancy chances closely in fertile couples. The match was weaker in couples with reduced fertility. The authors note the 2003 study of couples with reduced fertility was retrospective. The findings support larger, prospective studies of fertility awareness-based methods in this group.

RRM Context

Mucus monitoring is used in the Billings Ovulation Method and the Creighton Model, both covered in this review. The authors write that fertility awareness-based methods can help find reduced fertility and its causes. RRM follows the same idea: cycle observation guides the search for the cause in both partners.

Our editorial summary of this paper, not the article's abstract.

Abstract

Fertility awareness based methods (FABMs) can be used to ameliorate the likelihood to conceive. A literature search was performed to evaluate the relationship of cervical mucus monitoring (CMM) and the day-specific -pregnancy rate, in case of subfertility. A MEDLINE search revealed a total of 3331 articles. After excluding articles based on their relevance, 10 studies and were selected. The observed studies demonstrated that the cervical mucus monitoring (CMM) can identify the days with the highest pregnancy rate. According to the literature, the quality of the vaginal discharge correlates well with the cycle-specific probability of pregnancy in normally fertile couples but less in subfertile couples. The results indicate an urgent need for more prospective randomised trials and -prospective cohort studies on CMM in a subfertile population to evaluate the effectiveness of CMM in the subfertile couple.

Read the guide

Fertility Awareness Methods Compared

Clinician-reviewed comparison of fertility awareness-based methods (Billings, Creighton, Sensiplan, Marquette, Standard Days, apps). Every effectiveness figure cited and labeled by metric.

30 min read

Topics

Fertility Awareness › Effectiveness › Fertile Window Estimation · Menstrual Cycle › Cycle Biomarkers › Cervical Mucus

PMID 25374654 25374654 Thijssen et al. 2014, Thijssen 2014

'Fertility Awareness-Based Methods' and subfertility: a systematic review

Cervical mucus tracking finds the highest-pregnancy days in a cycle

Key Findings

Interpretation

RRM Context

Abstract

Read the guide

Topics

By this author

Related research