Contraceptive Pearl: An overview of fertility awareness-based methods

Washington State Health Care Authority sent this bulletin at 08/27/2026 08:00 AM PDT

August 27, 2026

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An overview of fertility awareness-based methods

This bulletin is being sent by the Health Care Authority (HCA) in partnership with the Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP).

Written by Sarah Cokenakes, MD and Caroline Darden, DO

Fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs), also known as natural family planning methods of contraception, involve identifying the fertile days of the menstrual cycle by observing fertility signs such as cervical secretions, urinary hormones, and basal body temperature.¹The timing of intercourse can then be planned to achieve the desired outcome of planning or preventing pregnancy. There are currently few low- and moderate-quality research articles regarding FABMs; thus, pregnancy rates vary widely across the FABM utilized as well as typical versus perfect implementation of the method.²

Read the full article

References

See RHAP's original post for sources.

About HCA and RHAP partnership

HCA and RHAP are partnering to support the reproductive health provider community’s access to accurate evidence-based clinical information.

If you are an enrolled Apple Health provider, HCA will pay to print items from the RHAP resource library.

Materials such as the birth control choices fact sheet or MEC for initiating contraception chart are available for bulk printing.

To order bulk printing

Email: Brandy Bautista
Include the following information:

"Washington Health Care Authority" in the body of the email
Items you'd like to order
Quantities
Business address
Delivery address (if different than your business address)

Contact

Email: Andrea Estes, Sexual and Reproductive Health Programs Innovation Manager at HCA, with questions regarding this partnership.

About the Health Care Authority (HCA)

Functioning as both the state's largest health care purchaser and its behavioral health authority, the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) is a leader in ensuring Washington residents have the opportunity to be as healthy as possible.

There are three pillars of our work: Apple Health (Medicaid); the Public Employees Benefits Board (PEBB) and School Employees Benefits Board (SEBB) programs; and behavioral health and recovery. Under these pillars, HCA purchases health care, including behavioral health treatment for more than 2.7 million Washington residents and provides behavioral health prevention, crisis, and recovery supports to all Washington residents.

Please do not reply directly to this message. For more information, visit the HCA website, where you'll also find contact information.

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