Fertility Calendars

Using fertility calendars with Chinese medicine principles empowers women. It's important to learn how to use fertility calendars or ovulation calendars (people use many names for charting) to not only predict ovulation, but to gain insight into your fertility. Charting can reveal your personal fertility signs, your level of fertility and the strength of your ovulation.

In my practice, it's disheartening to see the number of women who don't chart their cycles. I would say that for every ten women that I see, only one has been charting her cycle. Often times, women move on to clomid and IVF before even attempting to understand their bodies and their personal cycle.

Many women find that taking their temperature and checking cervical mucus every morning to be a burden. However, I find both in the clinic and in my Fertility Consulting Program that once women are exposed to the benefits of charting and Chinese medicine, they often get excited to see what's happening in their bodies and they become enthusiastic about charting their fertility.

So, I hope that you will take the time to thoroughly read through this section, as it could totally change your understanding of your fertility. This is the home page of charting and from here you can access the rest of the articles on charting.

Free Ovulation Calculator
It's important to use a good fertility chart or ovulation calculator. Read more about the empowering practice of charting and access your free ovulation calculator

Charting Fertility
Gaining an overview of the basic principles of charting and Chinese medicine would usually involve reading a minimum of 2 books, one being, Take Charge of Your Fertility (the bible of fertility charting) by Toni Welscher. I've condensed the overview to get you started. My method combines basal body temperature, cervial mucus tracking and Chinese medicine principles to create a Chinese fertililty calendar. Please read this!

Menstrual Period Phase
The menstrual period is awash with clues about hormonal balance, thickness of endometrium and the nourishment of the follicles. Read about the important fertility signs that can be gleaned from closing observing the menstrual period.

Follicular Phase
The follicular phase is the foundation of the entire menstrual cycle. With charting you can track the development of your stable follicular phase. Learn why a solid foundation during the follicular phase is essential for both strong ovulation and a adequate luteal phase.

Ovulation Phase
The success of the ovulation phase is based on the groundwork laid out during the follicular phase. Learn to read the choreography of the ovulation phase with charting.

Luteal Phase
The luteal phase is dependent on both the foundation laid out during the follicular phase and on the function of the corpus luteum. Many infertility problems concern implantation and thus a healthy luteal phase is paramount to sustaining a sound pregnancy.

From reading this section on fertility calendars I hope that you've either enhanced your charting skills or now feel inspired to chart your cycle.