If you know me at all by now (hey, hi, I’m Rachel), you’ll know that I will forever be at the front of the pack waving my pom-poms for using fertility awareness and charting as an effective and natural method of birth control.

While I absolutely believe that you don’t need artificial hormones to prevent pregnancy, I also believe that every woman is entitled to know *all* of her options so that she can make an informed decision about what’s best for her birth control needs in her current season of life.

So, we’re mixing it up in this episode and I’m talking you through the most common hormonal birth control options (that aren’t the Pill).

Want to know what matters more than size?

Length. (Of your luteal phase, that is)

Those couple of weeks in the lead-up to your next period are too often given a bad rap. This is when a lot of women experience those fun PMS symptoms, and if you’re trying to conceive, it’s the two week wait from hell.

But did you know that it’s the luteal phase that gives you the most valuable information about your fertility, your cycle, your overall health annnnnd (if you know what you’re looking for) it will help you to predict your period down to the day and will likely be your first sneaky-peek into pregnancy.

Sound familiar?

You’re slowly building your confidence with tracking your cycle every day. You feel like you’ve finally made sense of your cervical mucus patterns every month and it’s time to start tracking your daily body temperature too.

But your daily temperatures make absolutely no sense!

High one day, low the next. Completely all over the place and not even close to matching up with your mucus patterns.

You’re more confused than ever and wondering if maybe you’ve had it wrong all along.

I’m not currently trying to get pregnant, so why do I care when I’m ovulating?

Why would I bother charting and tracking my fertile signs when I have no intention of conceiving?

Your fertility is so much more than making babies. It’s about eliminating the need for artificial hormones that have their own set of side effects, and relying on your own body to tell you everything you need to know to avoid pregnancy with a natural method of birth control that’s equally as effective as the pill!

You can use your observations and your symptoms to address underlying health issues before they show up as other more serious symptoms in your body. You can take your chart to a healthcare professional and figure out what your body needs to rebalance your hormones and regulate your periods.

And finally, you can use this knowledge at every stage of life – birth control, pregnancy, post-partum and while breastfeeding all the way through until menopause.

The best part? You only have to learn it once!

When I look back, I cringe at how little I knew about my body.

When I started to wonder if there was another way to avoid unplanned pregnancy without the artificial hormones, everyone gave me the same cynical answers – Yes, but you’d be crazy to actually rely on them for birth control!

I call BS.

By taking just a couple of minutes a day to tune in to your body, you can use a method of birth control that is equally as effective as the Pill and condoms.

No side effects, no artificial hormones, no prescriptions, no awkward supermarket visits.

This knowledge will help you to know exactly when you are and aren’t fertile.

Not only does this knowledge help you to avoid pregnancy, it also allows you to maximise your chances of conceiving naturally and, according to the research, in half the time!

We’ve all been there once or twice. We wake up thinking we’re going to get our period. But it doesn’t come.

We wake up the next day. Still no period.

Then we start to panic.

We do some backwards maths and work out if we might be pregnant. We start frantically Googling and cursing our bodies for messing with our heads.

In this episode, I’m going to save you from that long fall down the Google rabbit-hole and share with you the top reasons why your period might be late. And none of them mean you’re pregnant.

Ever had a complete breakdown only to discover that your period came the next day and *maybe* you overreacted slightly?

Yep, I’ve been there!

Mood swings, PMS, breakouts – in this week’s podcast episode, we’re wrapping up the Menstrual Cycle Masterclass series and talking about the luteal phase. That window of time after ovulation has occurred and as your body is preparing for your next period. That window of time where those typical symptoms of PMS start to emerge…

In this episode, Part 3 of the Menstrual Cycle Masterclass, we have arrived at the main event – ovulation. I’ll be sharing what happens in our bodies in the lead up to, during and after ovulation, the signs of ovulation you can look out for and how to support your body during this important window of time with nutrition, exercise and self care.

The follicular phase – the window of time between menstruation and ovulation – can be tricky. While all of the other phases of our menstrual cycle are usually quite consistent and reliable, it’s the follicular phase which can change every single month. Some women may even skip this phase completely!

Welcome to Part Two of your Menstrual Cycle Masterclass, where I’m breaking down the sneakiest of all the phases of the menstrual cycle, the follicular phase – what actually goes on inside our body, how to support your body, balance your hormones and support your reproductive system with nutrition, self care, exercise and sleep.

Half of the world’s population will experience a period. A lifetime of periods equates to 8.6 years, 448 weeks, 3139 days, 70 080 hours. And yet, I wonder just how many women actually understand what’s going on in their bodies. Not just during menstruation, but for the rest of the month too. Welcome to your Menstrual Cycle Masterclass, where I’ll be diving deep into each phase of the menstrual cycle – what actually goes on inside our body, how to support your body, balance your hormones and support your reproductive system with nutrition, self care, exercise and sleep.