Abstract
Small hand-held microscopes have been developed for self-observation of salivary ferning
patterns to detect the fertile time of a woman’s menstrual cycle. The purpose of this
study was to evaluate one such microscope, the Lady Free Biotester®, by comparing
it with the self-observation of cervical-vaginal mucus and with the self-detection
of luteinizing hormone (LH) in the urine. Twelve natural family planning teachers
(average age 34.6 years) observed their cervical-vaginal mucus, tested their urine
for LH, and observed salivary and cervical-vaginal mucus ferning patterns (with the
Lady Free Biotester) for two menstrual cycles. Data indicated that there was a strong
correlation between the LH in the urine and the peak in self-observed cervical-vaginal
mucus ferning (r = 0.99, p ≤0.001) and salivary ferning (r = 0.98, p ≤0.001). However,
it was difficult to assess the beginning and end of the fertile time based on the
salivary ferning patterns. Further testing of salivary ferning patterns is recommended
before widespread use of these devices for family planning.
Keywords
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
March 30,
1998
Received in revised form:
March 10,
1998
Received:
November 17,
1997
Identification
Copyright
© 1998 Elsevier Science Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
