About Fertility Care Scotland

Fertility Awareness

Fertility Care Scotland is a charity registered in Scotland. It was founded in 1976 to help women in Scotland understand and appreciate their fertility thereby enabling Scottish couples to follow a completely natural and safe method of family planning. This understanding has meant that women can gain knowledge of their fertility without having to go through possible stressful examinations.

The method taught by Fertility Care Scotland is called the Billings Ovulation Method^®. For over 40 years Fertility Care Scotland’s trained personnel have taught couples to use this method both for the Achievement of Pregnancy and also for the Postponement of Pregnancy. The Billings Ovulation Method^® teaches women to recognise the fertile and infertile phases of their menstrual cycle by observing the presence of mucus and by reading the body’s natural sensations. This can be done regardless of length or regularity of the cycle.

The tuition given by Fertility Care Scotland is on a one to one basis and teaches a woman to understand and appreciate her fertility. This fertility awareness allows women the option of managing their fertility naturally. A woman is taught to interpret her natural signs of fertility through all her changing life stages from puberty to menopause.

Billings Ovulation Method^®

The Billings Ovulation Method^® was developed by Drs John and Evelyn Billings of Australia. The method’s worldwide acceptance and use, is due to a number of factors:

• It is a modern scientific based natural family planning method
• It has been the subject of extensive scientific research
• Based on sound scientific knowledge – clinical & laboratory research started 1962 and continues on. (The Billings Ovulation Method^® has been tested and scrutinised more than any other method)
• The method in practice is 99% effective
• It can be used to achieve, avoid and postpone pregnancy
• It can be used throughout a woman’s reproductive life – Does not require regular cycles
• Does not require pill-taking of any kind- No drugs or devices required
• No internal examination necessary
• Being natural it is completely safe and free from side effects
• Helps to establish physical and mental harmony
• Being natural it is accepted by different cultures and different religions
• Can be used by any woman who wishes to do so

Managing Your Fertility

Through the teaching of the Billings Ovulation Method^®, Fertility Care Scotland teaches a couple to understand and observe nature’s natural signals which indicate times of fertility and infertility. Every woman regardless of her stage in her reproductive life can use the Billings Ovulation Method^® to quickly learn about and understand her own reproductive cycle. This method can be applied to all variations throughout a woman’s reproductive life:

• Regular cycles
• Irregular cycles
• Anovular cycles
• After childbirth
• While breastfeeding
• After miscarriage
• Coming off the Pill
• Nearing menopause
• Low fertility

By observing the stages of her reproductive cycle, a woman will be able to identify when ovulation will occur. For additional background information please see:

History of the Billings Ovulation Method^®

The Billings Ovulation Method^® teaches the couple to successfully avoid or achieve a pregnancy. Trials show 99% effectiveness when used to avoid pregnancy, 78% effectiveness in achieving pregnancy and 65% for achieving in those who have identified difficulty (trying to conceive for over 12 months).

Effectiveness Study.