The Standard Days Method and the Two Day Method: How Can Users and Programs Benefit

Marcos Arevalo, Georgetown University
Victoria Jennings, Georgetown University

We examine two new fertility-awareness based methods of family planning and explore similarities and differences that make each method more appropriate for some users to use successfully and for some providers to offer. Fertility awareness-based methods of family planning help women identify the days each cycle when they are most likely to conceive. If they wish to avoid pregnancy they do not have unprotected sex on these days. The Standard Days Method and the Two Day method are new fertility awareness-based methods of family planning that use very different approaches to identify the fertile days. Clinical studies have shown that both methods are very effective when used correctly. We examine the implications of these findings for programs offering the methods, and conclude that the methods complement each other.