Fertility Awareness from Puberty to Menopause
Women go through many changes to their fertility throughout their lifetime – from puberty right up until menopause. Each change has its own set of challenges, especially when it comes to monitoring your fertility.
NFNZ Educators can help women understand changes in their cycles by teaching them the signs and symptoms of their fertility and how to interpret what these mean. Fertility Awareness will empower young women to gain body awareness and acceptance, and give them the foundational knowledge to learn methods like the Sympto-thermal Method (STM) and Lactational Amenorrhoea Method (LAM) later on in life.
Fertility Awareness for Teens and Young Women
When teaching Fertility Awareness to teens, the focus is on puberty, the menstrual cycle, and how they can track their cycles and periods. There are a few ways a teen may learn about Fertility Awareness:
- In school education as part of the curriculum (not all schools provide fertility awareness as part of their puberty education)
- A small group outside of the school environment, taught by an Accredited Fertility Educator.
- One on one with an Accredited Fertility Educator.
In all instances, parental input is an important part of the process, to ensure that they are receiving the appropriate information for their age.
Fertility Awareness Programmes in Schools
Schools in New Zealand include age appropriate information, centred around the changes to the body during puberty. However not all schools incorporate Fertility Awareness into this education.
One of our Accredited Fertility Educators, Robyn Fausett, provides a number of in-school programmes that are in line with the curriculum that can be tailored the requirements of each group including:
These programmes are offered via Nest Consulting:
Developed in 2008, Nest Consulting provides services dedicated to health and wellbeing. Nest Consulting provides Puberty, Menstrual, Peri/Menopause, Sexuality, Sexual Violence Prevention, Respectful Relationship (SRR), Body Image/Self Esteem, Cyber Safety/Media Manners and Men’s/Women’s Health education programmes and advisory packages throughout schools, communities and workplaces in New Zealand.
Nest Consulting frequently contract with organisations and agencies to provide services from consultation to delivery on a variety of health, wellbeing, environmental, diversity and inclusion related topics.
Fertility Awareness throughout Reproductive Life
Fertility Awareness is a skill that can support reproductive choices throughout life. The evidence based methods that Natural Fertility NZ teach are used to:
- Understand the menstrual cycle
- Avoid pregnancy
- Shorten the time to Conception
- Support breastfeeding
- Monitor the changes during Peri-menopause
Are you ready to learn about your fertility?
Fertility Awareness during Peri-Menopause
Each year, thousands of women in Aotearoa reach menopause. The 10 or so years prior are what is called Peri-Menopause. During Peri-Menopause, hormone production becomes erratic, fertility drops and menstrual periods eventually stop.
It can be a very trying time for some, as these hormonal changes impact on almost every area of their life. Symptoms can vary from woman to woman, and may show up before there are any changes in periods. They can include irregular bleeding, hot flushes, night sweats, skin changes and itching, vaginal dryness, urinary symptoms, osteoporosis, loss of libido, breast tenderness, tiredness, weight changes, forgetfulness, brainfog, depression and anxiety.
By learning Fertility Awareness, you can monitor your declining fertility and accurately predict when your period will arrive. Fertility charting will show if you are still releasing eggs (ovulating) and reassure you that you are not pregnant.
With more understanding of what is happening, you can meet the challenge of the peri-menopausal phase and reduce stress and uncertainty. NFNZ Educators can provide advice on how to navigate this transition, improving your quality of life during this time.