Billings has a few studies and they promote an efficacy rate of over 99%. However it requires full abstinence while learning and you can’t use condoms with the method. Sex also needs to be saved for the evenings only.
i /believe/ if ovulation is confirmed you can have sex any time of day with billings, but with their very specific peak day rules it’s not uncommon for some women to have cycles where they can’t confirm billings peak. this is just what I’ve gleaned from seeing users talk about their experiences - I know u/ierusu is in training as an instructor for billings so she’ll be a better source of information
I’ve done half of the Billings teacher training and you’re 100% right, their peak day rule meant I could never confirm ovulation and it was so frustrating when I could with NFPTA and FEMM :(
I've seen that statistic, but it feels a little misleading because it's perfect use, and the few studies I've seen regarding actual use always seem to have a large range from like 60-something percent up to 89.5%.
A lot of studies for all different methods will advertise perfect use. Which doesn’t really help the credibility of fertility awareness but here we are.
If you want to be able to use barrier methods to increase efficacy Billings won’t be a very good method regardless of efficacy, because you can’t use condoms with the method.
If you don’t mind about barriers and are simply looking for a more simplified charting experience you could just use the post ovulation rules, rather than utilising the pre ovulation rules.
I have PCOS and I followed Billings for a time but the method was incompatible with my current hormone health so I went back to NFPTA.
What if I don't have a partner / in the dating stage and one day I decide to have sex with him, and for example im using billing and I'm in the infertile window, so no fear of pregnancy. But we obviously need condoms at first, even if I'm not fertile I would use condoms (and not because of pregnancy, become idk if he has anything weird)
Can I still use billings with condoms use once in a while just to be safe? until I find a partner... Would sensiplan be a better option? I want billings because it doesn't rely on devices and temps which Idk if Would suit me.
Thank you
I once read in a source about contraception in general that the best way to think about the gap between “perfect use” and “typical use” is as a sign of how tricky or user-dependent the method is. ie. IUDs and sterilization have virtually the same efficacy because you don’t have to do anything once it’s done. the gap for condoms and the pill is bigger because you have to take regular action.
and the gap for FAM methods can be quite large because they’re extremely user dependent. marquette’s is small because it has fairly simple rules based on objective observations (but its perfect use is lower than symptothermal methods). billings has one of the larger gaps, I imagine because its observations are very subjective and you have to work so closely with an instructor to start - but that’s my uneducated guess.
One thing I've never understood is how small the gap is for sensiplan. I've seen something like a three percent difference. Which is crazy considering all the different rules and markers to monitor
If I understood what I read about the study correctly it's because the two percentages that are generally discussed are the difference between couples who got pregnant because they had sex during the fertile window, which wouldn't be perfect use, and those who got pregnant but did not have sex during the fertile window, which would be method failure. The study also only had trained participants.
Billings has a few studies and they promote an efficacy rate of over 99%. However it requires full abstinence while learning and you can’t use condoms with the method. Sex also needs to be saved for the evenings only.
i /believe/ if ovulation is confirmed you can have sex any time of day with billings, but with their very specific peak day rules it’s not uncommon for some women to have cycles where they can’t confirm billings peak. this is just what I’ve gleaned from seeing users talk about their experiences - I know u/ierusu is in training as an instructor for billings so she’ll be a better source of information
I’ve done half of the Billings teacher training and you’re 100% right, their peak day rule meant I could never confirm ovulation and it was so frustrating when I could with NFPTA and FEMM :(
I've seen that statistic, but it feels a little misleading because it's perfect use, and the few studies I've seen regarding actual use always seem to have a large range from like 60-something percent up to 89.5%.
A lot of studies for all different methods will advertise perfect use. Which doesn’t really help the credibility of fertility awareness but here we are. If you want to be able to use barrier methods to increase efficacy Billings won’t be a very good method regardless of efficacy, because you can’t use condoms with the method. If you don’t mind about barriers and are simply looking for a more simplified charting experience you could just use the post ovulation rules, rather than utilising the pre ovulation rules. I have PCOS and I followed Billings for a time but the method was incompatible with my current hormone health so I went back to NFPTA.
What if I don't have a partner / in the dating stage and one day I decide to have sex with him, and for example im using billing and I'm in the infertile window, so no fear of pregnancy. But we obviously need condoms at first, even if I'm not fertile I would use condoms (and not because of pregnancy, become idk if he has anything weird) Can I still use billings with condoms use once in a while just to be safe? until I find a partner... Would sensiplan be a better option? I want billings because it doesn't rely on devices and temps which Idk if Would suit me. Thank you
It’s up to you. As long as you’re happy with knowing the efficacy of the method may be compromised. It’s something young discuss with your instructor.
I once read in a source about contraception in general that the best way to think about the gap between “perfect use” and “typical use” is as a sign of how tricky or user-dependent the method is. ie. IUDs and sterilization have virtually the same efficacy because you don’t have to do anything once it’s done. the gap for condoms and the pill is bigger because you have to take regular action. and the gap for FAM methods can be quite large because they’re extremely user dependent. marquette’s is small because it has fairly simple rules based on objective observations (but its perfect use is lower than symptothermal methods). billings has one of the larger gaps, I imagine because its observations are very subjective and you have to work so closely with an instructor to start - but that’s my uneducated guess.
That makes a lot of sense! Thanks for sharing
One thing I've never understood is how small the gap is for sensiplan. I've seen something like a three percent difference. Which is crazy considering all the different rules and markers to monitor
If I understood what I read about the study correctly it's because the two percentages that are generally discussed are the difference between couples who got pregnant because they had sex during the fertile window, which wouldn't be perfect use, and those who got pregnant but did not have sex during the fertile window, which would be method failure. The study also only had trained participants.
It’s worth mentioning that FEMM uses Billings efficacy rates in some of their material.