There are only 30 days per year that a woman can conceive! And there are a whole lot of events that must occur in the body for this to happen, like ovulation.
Temperatures can enable us to identify these opportunities and improve the chance of conceiving.
Basal Body Temperature (BBT) charting is an important tool in improving fertility with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
It allows us to understand the timing and efficiency of the different phases of the menstrual cycle. It graphs the temperature of the body at rest over the entire monthly cycle.
There are many apps available for your mobile phones that make recording the BBT simple. I suggest Fertility Friend, it is free and supplies you with loads of information to educate you on your cycle and how to understand what is happening at each phase.
I suggest all women seeing me for fertility support are BBT charting. You can start even before you book an appointment.
Here’s some tips for getting started:
- Start charting on Day 1 of your cycle. This is the first full day of bleeding. If you start bleeding after mid-day, then day 1 will be the following day.
- Ensure you have had 3-4 hours of unbroken sleep.
- Take your temperature immediately on waking, before you get out of bed. Any delays will result in an abnormal reading.
- Take your temperature at roughly the same time each morning as your temperature will increase the later you wake.
- Temperatures are taken orally, ensuring the thermometer has 2 decimal points. Do not use an old one, it may be inaccurate.
Don’t let taking your temperature stress you out. Think of it as a quick and simple morning task. Most women find it interesting and love what they are learning about their bodies.
