title: An updated basal body temperature method.
abstract: Basal body temperature (BBT) readings are handicapped as fertility predictors by exogenous influences on women's temperatures, many of which could be adjusted for by the presence of a non-cycling control. We, a married, cohabiting couple, tracked our BBTs for two months. We found substantial temperature covariability. When there were difficult-to-explain changes in the female partner's temperature, similar changes in the male partner's temperature suggested that these fluctuations were not attributable to ovulation. Additionally, a clear mid-cycle widening of our temperature gap suggested that ovulation had occurred. This is a limited trial of a new method. However, the potential for substantially improving the accuracy and usefulness of a globally utilized method, coupled with its inexpensiveness, ease, and painlessness, call for a larger study.
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine, Dept. of Family and Preventive Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30303-3219, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001481:Basal Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology*; D003267:Contraception / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010061:Ovulation Detection / Q000379:methods*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors