tom (04/10/83)
Recently there has been a number of articles concerning the new sponge device for birth control, and also on whether the discussion belongs in net.women. My answer is yes, but not exclusively. My real reason for writing is not about the sponge, but about the cervical mucus method of birth control. This method is little mentioned outside the realm of Catholics (it is not the rhythm method) (I am not a Catholic). My sister who is a Catholic, has used the method successfully for several years, both to concieve and contracieve, she claims it is the best method around, taking into account side effects and reliability. The method relies on the fact that women's cervical mucus when charted over time indicates their fertility. The method also relies on CO-OPERATION between partners, as abstinance (or perhaps an alternative birth control method) is required about one week per month from the man. The main drawback, as I see it is that it lacks publicity. Drug companies are uninterested in pushing it, as there is nothing to push, except maybe calendars. There are a couple of books on the subject, however it might be best to go to a training session (look under "Natural Family Planning" under "Birth Control" in the Yellow Pages). This method was discovered by an Australian couple, called Billings. Side note: this method has been loosely described in Tom Robbin's book "Still Live with Woodpecker"
gh (04/17/83)
"The [cervical mucus] method also relies on CO-OPERATION between partners, as abstinance (or perhaps an alternative birth control method) is required about one week per month from the man." -- arizona!tom Abstinence required from the man! Not from from the woman? Or is sex a chore she is more than happy to forego? Graeme Hirst, Brown Computer Science !decvax!brunix!gh gh.brown@udel-relay