Medical Corner: Is There Really A Safe Period For Women?

Do you know about Safe period? And do you have an accurate information? Can you calculate your own as a woman?

First of all there is NO such thing as a safe period in men. Anyone who tells you that has evil intentions. Only a castrated man is safe. As the name says, safe period refers to the days in a woman’s menstrual cycle when she is “safe” & the risk of getting pregnant is slim. It means if a woman understands her body & her cycle very well, the knowledge of the safe period can help to prevent unplanned pregnancy. However a little disclaimer is appropriate here; Safe period is NOT an absolute way of preventing pregnancy but it reduces the risk a lot. So how can a woman determine accurately her safe period?

The first thing is to study your menstrual cycle length for a minimum of 6 months. What I mean by that is “what is the average duration from one monthly menstruation to another?” For most women, it is 28 days. However, though the menstrual cycle length for most women is 28 days on the average, a cycle length anywhere between 21-35 days is normal. However for calculating safe period, anyone whose menstrual cycle per month fluctuates beyond 26-32 days is not advised to depend on it. The reason is because safe period calculation is done on the basis of a regular menstrual cycle. With anything else, it becomes unreliable. The simple explanation is an irregular menstruation (ovulation- release of the egg) is also very unpredictable. That is the issue.

The basics of getting pregnant is that when a man & a woman have sex,the man’s sperm meets with the woman’s egg & a baby is formed. However, a woman doesn’t release her eggs always. A woman releases 1 egg per month, while a man releases millions of sperm anytime. The above fact is the reason why a man can NEVER have a safe period. Every time a man ejaculates, that is millions of sperm discharged! Because a woman releases one egg per month, the safe period calculation is to know the most likely time and to avoid sex in that period. Medical research shows for a woman with 28 days regular cycle, the time of ovulation is 14th day counting from the 1st day of last menses. Or a simple way to explain the day of ovulation is to subtract 14 from the days of the last menstrual cycle provided it is 26-32 days. That means if the last cycle was 30 days, ovulation day this month is most likely Day 16, using the first day of the last menses as Day 1. The egg is usually fertile 4 days before & 4 days after the calculated ovulation date. That is the period a woman is highly “unsafe” and the trick is to calculate your ovulation date as I earlier explained, and avoid sex from about 4 days before that date till 4 days after.

Technically, a woman’s safe period is every day apart from the 4 days before and the 4 days after her calculated ovulation date. However, it should be stated that the woman’s body is not a machine and therefore the failure rate of safe period calculation is high. And this is why doctors advise a backup plan like condoms.

Let me tell you a story. A young lady came to the hospital with complaints of weakness and feelings of vomiting.
Of course the usual routine is to order for malaria and pregnancy tests to be sure of what may be causing the symptoms. She tested positive for pregnancy but negative for malaria. She was stunned. Well I wasn’t stunned. Pregnancy can cause weakness and vomiting in young women. She simply said “doctor, it isn’t possible”, I went on to ask her why. She said, “my boyfriend told me he was in his safe period when we had sex, so how can I be pregnant?” It would have been cruel and unprofessional to laugh, but she was a 23 year old undergraduate who was scammed into sex by her bf! She merely said, “I didn’t want to have sex at all. But he just said there is no reason to fear as he is presently on his safe period”. I couldn’t close my mouth out of shock. So I asked, “Have you ever heard it is possible for a man to have a safe period”? She was speechless.

Regarding pregnancy, NO man is ever “safe” for a young woman. Every penis is a risk. And there is no such thing as a safe period for men. As I told her those words, she put her head on the table. On looking up after a few minutes, her eyes were red and filled with tears. I know boys can invent any trick to get in a girl’s pants but this level of devious creativity in lying is simply despicable!

Culled from tweets by @drolufunmilayo
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Published on shughar.com