Basal Body Temperature Method
(BBT)
Basal Body Temperature Method Or BBT seems to be the most chosen method by those who are trying to conceive and their first time using one of the three well known conception methods. The way Basal Body Temping theoretically works is during that 24 hr time period of ovulation a woman’s body temperature rises a few degrees and when she has conceived her temperature rises and stays risen which indicates to the woman using the method that she has had success in becoming pregnant. Although this method sounds simple it is infact one of the most stressful methods for a couple to use besides trying on no particular day.
Basically how it works is a few times a day a woman needs to take her body temperature. Figure out what is her most common body temperature since people can very around 98.6 degrees. Once the woman finds her most common temperature she needs to write down every day what time she took her temperature and what her temperature was. A rise in temperature theoretically shows when ovulation occurs which is the prime time to have sex and conceive. After having sex the woman keeps track of her temperature to see if it rises and if it does infact rise then there is a good possibility she had success in becoming pregnant since the body would work a little harder to care for a embryo which would bring the rise in temperature.
Within the past year this method has become less and less desirable and in the medical community more and more obsolete. In the past 4 years I have talked to women who have been trying to conceive I have found 90% of them after the first two months of using the BBT method have become very stressed because of confusion in using the method along with having to do a lot of work and very frustrate at lack of results. After 8 months of using the method most women I’ve talked to have chosen a different method due to lack of results. In the OBGYN community I have been told within the past 6 months by over 50 women that their OBGYN’s have disregarded BBT as a successful option for trying to conceive and have thrown it out as a option. The main reason for discontinuing BBT as a conception option is for a few reasons.
Reason #1 When it comes to a person’s body, each person does not have an exact 98.6 degree body temperature, each person varies which can make it hard to pin point when ovulation occurs according to a lot of instructions on how to use the method. Reason #2 When it comes to body temperature it can fluctuate at any time of day depending on what a person is doing. If a person has been very active body temperature may rise trying to work hard to catch up. If a person is cold body temperature rises to keep the body warm. If a person has been in a state of long relaxation the body temperature may lower a degree or two due to the body not needing to keep itself as warm or as active. Another problem is anytime a person is sick with cold or flu body temperature normally rises. If a woman is sick and is trying to conceive using the BBT it can become virtually impossible to find out when she is ovulating if her temperature rises and falls due to illness. All of this intern can cause a wide amount of stress and frustration and if you’ve done your research you already know that stress can delay conception and even cause problems in the process as well.
Now I do admit there are a few exceptions and a few women have become pregnant while trying the BBT method but whether it was the method or just right timing is still to be determined.
If you do decided to try the BBT method I strongly advise you do your research and educate yourself fully on how it works. Doing this may increase your chances of this method working for you. Try the method for 6 months or less and if there are no results I strongly recommend looking into another method. It normally takes a healthy couple 1 to 1 ½ years to conceive.