Mother’s Day Tips for Moms, Moms-to-Be And Women Who Hope to Become Moms

Washington, DC — As many as twenty percent of conception problems are due to a couple’s failure to time intercourse correctly, according to Victoria Jennings, PhD, director of Georgetown University’s Institute for Reproductive Health and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology. She notes that women can get pregnant up to five days before ovulation and one day after. However, because the day of ovulation changes somewhat from one cycle to the next, it’s not always easy to know when this fertile time will occur.

Jennings and Georgetown University colleagues have developed the Standard Days Method® which identifies days 8 through 19 of a woman’s cycle as the days when women with cycles between 26 and 32 days are most likely to conceive. An easy way to track fertility is by using CycleBeads® — a color-coded string of beads that Dr, Jennings and colleagues developed to let a woman know if its a fertile (glow-in-the-dark bead) day or not.

Overweight or underweight, but want to get pregnant? Many people know that being too heavy or too thin during pregnancy can affect your baby’s health. But being too heavy or thin can also adversely affect a woman’s ability to conceive according to Jennings. Obese and extremely thin women have a high incidence of menstrual problems and so may not have regular periods which are best for conception.

A creative, if unusual Mother’s Day gift — CycleBeads. CycleBeads® are a strand of beads used by a woman to track her cycle and clearly identify the days she could become pregnant and the days when pregnancy is most unlikely. Giving CycleBeads is truly a sign of a close and loving relationship. To use CycleBeads a woman simply moves a black ring over a series of color-coded beads that represent her fertile and low fertility days. Developed by researchers at Georgetown University’s Institute for Reproductive Health, CycleBeads are used by couples wishing to get pregnant as well as those who do not.

Many new moms reassess family planning options after the birth of a child according to Jennings. She says that natural family planning, especially the newly developed Standard Days Method, meets the needs of women who wish to effectively prevent pregnancy but also want to avoid using hormones to do so.

About the Institute for Reproductive Health
The Institute for Reproductive Health is dedicated to helping women and men make informed choices about family planning and providing them with simple and effective natural options. As part of Georgetown University’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Institute conducts research to develop natural methods of family planning and test them in service delivery settings.

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Cindy Fox Aisen

Office of Communications

Georgetown University

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