The sympto-thermal method in France: a 25-year retrospective.

Traces 25 years in the development and teaching of the sympto-thermal method a natural method of contraception which relies on observation of bodily signs. The sympto-thermal method was developed in France with the pioneering work of de Lestapis and Van der Stappen. Initial efforts aimed at a precise determination of the time of ovulation in the female monthly cycle. This approach was later discarded in favor of one which focused instead on the reliable determination of periods of fertility and infertility within the monthly cycle. The sympto-thermal method requires that basic instruction be given in the physiology of reproduction before the principles of fertility determination are introduced. Indicators of ovulation taught include observation of cervical mucus self examination of the cervix and awareness of spotting. Temperature taking is an essential part of the process; the postovulatory infertile phase is defined as beginning after 3 high points have been recorded on the hyperthermal plateau indicating a hyperthermal shift.