Book Review: Taking Charge of Your Fertility

Recently, a blog I read was discussing birth control options. I love this book, and so had to write up a review of it!

Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health by Toni Weschler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When Hubby and I were engaged, we decided to wait at least a year before trying for children. Thus, we discussed our birth control options. We believe that life begins at conception, therefore, we wanted to be sure that whatever we did was preventing conception, not implantation. Plus, we wanted something simple and easy.  Many of the options were just not tasteful to us. Then a good friend recommended this book.

This book taught me a great deal about how a woman's body works. Weschler walks the reader through the changes that occur in a woman's body each month and how to figure out where you are at in the cycle. She discusses both the rules for how to prevent pregnancy and how to achieve pregnancy. Some might find her discussion too technical, but I really enjoyed it. It didn't feel like a textbook, but she doesn't talk down to her audience.

I was able to track my cycle and determine that the pill was preventing ovulation (sometimes it doesn't, and we wanted to know if that happened). Then, when I went off the pill, I was able to figure out what was wonky in my cycle and why I wasn't getting pregnant. When I finally did get pregnant, because of my charting, I can tell you the day I conceived (plus or minus 1 day). Because of what I learned in Weschler's book, I should be able to tell when my fertility returns (I'm currently nursing).

Ladies, don't be squimish. This is your body. Know what's going on.



View all my reviews