Developing
and Testing
the Standard Days Method
The Standard Days Method® (SDM) is a new
natural method of family planning that is more
than 95% effective when used correctly. The SDM
is appropriate for women with menstrual cycles
between 26 and 32 days long. To use the method,
couples avoid unprotected intercourse on days
8 through 19 of the woman’s menstrual cycle.
The SDM is the first new natural method of family
planning to be clinically tested and introduced
on an international scale in over two decades.
To develop the method the Institute first used
data from the World Health Organization to determine
the probability of pregnancy based on a fixed
fertile window. Days 8 to19 were identified as
the most appropriate for the fertile window. The
Institute then established the guidelines and
protocols for method use. After favorable results
from several small-scale pilot studies, the Institute
implemented a full-scale efficacy trial on the
SDM that included nearly 500 women from Bolivia,
Peru, and the Philippines. The clinical trial
for the SDM revealed a first-year pregnancy rate
of 4.8% when the method was used correctly. These
results suggest that the SDM’s effectiveness
is comparable to a number of other widely
used methods of family planning. (Read
more about the SDM)
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