My guest today is Hannah Ransom, founder of Holistic Hormonal Health. We’ll be talking about a method of natural birth control called the sympto-thermal method of fertility awareness that Hannah teaches online. Hannah is passionate about letting women know that they don’t need to resort to toxic birth control, even if they want a highly effective method. She writes about many things related to fertility awareness on her website. holistichormonalhealth.com
TOXIC FREE TALK RADIO
Birth Control the Natural Way
Host: Debra Lynn Dadd
Guest: Hannah Ransom
Date of Broadcast: November 7, 2013
DEBRA: Hi, I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and this is Toxic Free Talk Radio, where we talk about how to thrive in a toxic world because it is a toxic world out there. It seems like sometimes everywhere we look, there are toxic chemicals, and all the consumer products that are on the shelves, and the water we drink, and the food we eat.
But not here—here we talk about what’s not toxic, how to create a toxic-free home, how to remove toxic chemicals from your body, how to not put them in your body in the first, and everything else that you might need to know about how to live a toxic-free life.
One of the things that I’m trying to do on the show is to bring in a lot of different viewpoints, and if what you’re wanting to do is move away from a toxic life, there are a lot of different ways that you can move away from a toxic life. And one is to simply buy a product that is less toxic than the ones that you’re using. And that’s a great first step.
And there’s a lot going on in the world right now about manufacturers and retailers wanting to move in that direction, to see what are their toxic products, and what can be done to have less toxic products for their customers.
And then it just goes on up the scale, where you can get less toxic, and less toxic, and less toxic, and less toxic. And then what I found in my own life, I’ve been doing this for more than 30 years, but what I found in my own life is that at a certain point, you fall out of the industrial consumer world, and you say, “Well, how can I do something that is just completely in harmony with nature that follows natural laws, and that it’s just me and nature?”
And if you get to that point in any subject—of course, I want to say no toxic chemicals, but I don’t want it to sound like there’s nothing toxic in nature because there are things that are toxic in nature. But for the most part, everything about nature—nature is a system that is designed to support life. The industrial system is designed to, well, to make money.
We won’t even talk about the industrial system right now.
What I want you to know is that nature is a system that is designed to support and perpetuate life, and the more we can do things that are according to nature’s ways, the better off we are, the healthier we are, the happier we are.
And my guest today fits right in that category. What she does is that she teaches women method of natural birth control that is a method of fertility awareness, and it is by becoming aware of your own fertile cycles, and she teaches these classes online, it is effective for birth control if you know how to do it, and do it right, and actually do it, it’s as effective as any other type of birth control, including taking hormones, which are toxic to your body.
And we’re going to talk about all this today, so that you can make your own decisions about what’s going on with your body, you make your own decisions about becoming pregnant or not becoming pregnant, and doing it all in the way that brings you more aware of the nature of your own body.
Hi, Hannah, are you there?
HANNAH RANSOM: Hi, Debra, yes. Thank you for that introduction.
DEBRA: You’re welcome. Thank you so much for being with me today. Many years ago, I learned this method and used it, and I have used it, and since have not used any, what I’ll call, commercial birth control. And the results were exactly what I wanted them to be.
And so first, tell us, how did you become interested in this subject?
HANNAH RANSOM: I personally began looking for some kind of long-term birth control. And I was, at first, one that did not go with this. I actually had a copper IUD when I first wanted a long-term method of birth control. And I always knew that hormones weren’t for me. I was always kind of a more eco-conscious, health-conscious kind of a person.
But I went with this copper IUD, and at the same time, I read a big, fat book on fertility awareness called “Taking Charge for Your Fertility.”
DEBRA: That was the book I learned from many years ago.
HANNAH RANSOM: Yes, it’s been around for a while now. And it’s much, much more popular with those who are using the method to get pregnant rather than for birth control. But it has all the information in there.
And I read that at the same time as I got that. And I was just blown away that wow, this is what my body does, and this is—I can’t believe I can do this. I can have so much control.
But at the same time, I also told myself stories about it being too hard. And I think that a lot of people don’t want to take all of that responsibility with something as important as birth control especially.
So it’s something that people have to warm up to a little bit, but it’s something that is amazingly effective. And I personally, when I decided why am I putting up with these side effects from the IUD that I have, I ended up transitioning to the fertility awareness method. And I absolutely loved it.
And I decided, because there aren’t enough teachers around, and most people who practice it do end up wanting to take a class at some time, or needing advice from a teacher. And there really aren’t a lot of qualified teachers
DEBRA: I would agree with you.
HANNAH RANSOM: Yes. I decided pretty much immediately, “Okay, I’m going to teach this,” and I ended up taking a two-year certification course to do that.
DEBRA: Well, I think it’s excellent. I’m very happy that you’re offering that online because a lot of times, in local communities, we don’t always have the resources for these natural things. And so now, anybody can get trained in the proper way to do it, and that you have all of these resources.
I just want to mention that, or maybe ask you, it’s my impression that doctors, gynecologists, don’t offer this, or clinics, birth control clinics, that they don’t really encourage women to use this method—that they want them to use the other methods. Do I have the right impression?
HANNAH RANSOM: For the most part, that is correct. There are some doctors that perhaps have used it themselves, or are very familiar with their own patients using it. And they know that the method works, and they are very encouraging of it because it is also a great way to track your health, be more in tune with your body.
But a lot of them, unfortunately, because of the misconception surrounding it, do not feel good about it because it’s been branded fertility awareness method, and of course, the umbrella term for everything having to do with methods that you use periodic abstinence or periodic something else, is called fertility awareness base method.
So that even includes the rhythm method, which, of course, isn’t great because it’s calculation-based on past cycles rather than what’s going on with your hormones today, and [inaudible 00:08:44] and if you’re actually capable of getting pregnant that day.
So because the rhythm method has such a low effectiveness rating, that’s one reason that there’s that bias against it in the medical community, just because of the confusion with all the methods.
And then also, there is the fact that it does take that consistency responsibility. You do have to be a relatively committed user if you’re using the method, and taking risks with it. Then it’s something that can be worth than taking risk with other methods because by definition, taking a risk, you’re having sex at a potentially fertile time.
DEBRA: We need to take a break. I have something else I want to say on this subject, but we’ll do it after the break. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. This is Toxic Free Talk Radio, and my guest today is Hannah Ransom, founder of Holistic Hormonal Health, and she’s at HolisticHormonalHealth.com. And we’ll be right back after this to talk more about fertility awareness and having natural birth control that you take responsibility for.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Hannah Ransom, founder of Holistic Hormonal Health. That’s HolisticHormonalHealth.com. We’re talking about birth control, and specifically, fertility awareness.
But before we get into the method, we’re going to talk about the other options—the toxic options, and why you would want to not use them.
But first, I want to say, before the break, I asked a question about whether or not doctors recommend fertility awareness method, and specifically, this method that Hannah is going to tell us about.
And the reason that I asked that question is because all women go to a gynecologist at a certain point in their life, and get their exam, and the doctor talks to them about birth control. But my doctor did not talk to me about this. He gave me the birth control lecture, but he didn’t tell me about this method.
And I found out about it from a girlfriend of mine, who didn’t want to take the hormones. And so she found out about it, and she was using it herself, and she recommended it to me as a satisfied user.
And yes, it requires some abstinence at certain times of the month, but it really is about all those other days that doesn’t require abstinence, and knowing when those are. So it’s not restriction as much as it’s freedom.
And the other thing I wanted to mention about this is that I actually met a man who had learned the method himself, so that he could tell when women that he knew whether they were ovulating or not, and he could take responsibility. And I thought that was great.
So I think that men need to learn it too. That’s my recommendation.
Okay, Hannah. Let’s talk about toxic birth control methods.
HANNAH RANSOM: I think, of course, the hormonal methods are the most common, and obviously, the most recommended as well.
DEBRA: Because, of course, they’re a drug with a prescription.
HANNAH RANSOM: Yes, of course. And those are really the very worst culprits, in terms of our health. And they’re something that are designed essentially to take one of your healthy bodily processes, your cyclical fertility, away.
They’re taking that out.
And so without that, we do see side effects. Generally, there are longer term ones, there’s the increased risk of cancers like breast and cervical cancer. And a lot of people will just have low grade or even high grade depression, lower sex drive.
It’s really something that also eats up a lot of vitamins and minerals in your body. And taking these hormones all the time is using up more of that nutrition just to detox because your body is trying to get rid of them.
DEBRA: I agree.
HANNAH RANSOM: So hormones are something that they’re definitely not good for you, and a lot of people though, they will come into it even from a non-contraceptive standpoint. They will take birth control pills to so said regulate their cycles. But the thing is that they have hormonal imbalances from one thing or another, and what they’re doing is they’re just [inaudible 00:14:10] with these hormones.
DEBRA: The thing that I think really is striking for me about this is that women have a natural cycle of fertility. And what these hormones do is they impose an artificial cycle. And so you don’t have your natural body function anymore.
I’ve never taken them myself, but I have taken, in the past, other drugs that make your body do something according to what the drug tells it to do, instead of you being able to have your own body doing what it does.
And that’s my biggest concern, is that it takes your body out of its natural state into a constantly-drugged state.
HANNAH RANSOM: Yes, it’s plenty of perfectly healthy women will pick a drug every day because that’s what they’re told is the responsible thing to do for contraception. They think that maybe even if their cycle is 36 days or something, “Oh, no. It’s not the 28th day cycle, but it’s supposed to be,” which it doesn’t need to be. But they’ll take it.
So we’re tricked into believing we need this, and we always hear the benefits outweigh the risks. But do those benefits outweigh the risks if there are other viable alternatives?
DEBRA: Exactly, and with anything else in your body that if you have a regular period, and then your period becomes irregular, that’s a sign that something is going wrong with your body, and if you just take a pill to make the symptom go away, then you’re not addressing what is the underlying cause of why you’re having that symptom.
And it’s the same thing if you take a pill to not have a headache, or you take a hormone pill to regular your period. It’s the same thing. You’re handling the symptom instead of handling the cause.
And those symptoms are there to warn us that we need to do something to improve our health. And that’s another reason not to take them because then you just don’t ever see if there’s an irregularity in your body.
So talk about some of the other forms of contraception.
HANNAH RANSOM: So commonly, a lot of hormones are used, obviously, but then there are also condoms that are commonly used. And some of them aren’t terrible options, but most of them that people end up getting are, and they have the spermicides on them that if you’re getting common spermicides, they’re not good. And they’ll have lubricants as well.
And a lot of these are just made just like every other product in our life. If you’re getting this common, generic stuff, it’s made with terrible, terrible ingredients—the chemical stuff.
DEBRA: Yes, I agree. We need to take another break. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. My guest today is Hannah Ransom. She’s at HolisticHormonalHealth.com, and we’ll be back right after this.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Hannah Ransom, founder of Holistic Hormonal Health. And she teaches classes about a specific method of fertility awareness at HolisticHormonalHealth.com, so women and their partners can be responsible themselves for their natural fertility.
Hannah, let’s talk about the actual method now.
HANNAH RANSOM: So I don’t know how much you want to go into it.
DEBRA: Just start at the beginning. We have some time. You can go into it. First, tell us how the method developed.
HANNAH RANSOM: Well, the method was originally started with them trying to figure out when women ovulate. And it was found that women ovulated about 14 days before their last period. And with that, they developed the rhythm method.
And then they started learning more and more about women’s menstrual cycles. And so they figured out that with ovulation, there was associated cervical fluid, and this cervical fluid was actually keeping the sperm alive, helping them swim, and actually, preparing them to fertilize the egg. If the sperms don’t go through the cervical fluid, they can’t fertilize an egg.
And then they also found that there is the temperature increase after ovulation.
And these are the two main signs that we use in this method, and they are associated with the hormones of the cycle, instead of calculations based on how long your previous cycle was, or anything like that because your cycle can change, even if you have very healthy cycle. What happen is you get stressed out one month, you have a lot on your plate, and your body will hold off on ovulation, like, now is not the time to get pregnant.
So it’ll hold off, and then make it longer. And if you’re going off, “Oh, I always have a regular cycle,” and think you already ovulated, that could be a problem.
And that’s why the rhythm method has really been a less effective method. But now, we have other things to track that are associate with our hormones, and we know what hormones happen around ovulation, how our body works, and what signs that are producing in our body.
DEBRA: Good. It does require responsibility, but talk about what are the steps that somebody needs to do in order to do—obviously, we’re not teaching it here because there’s more to it than just the whole outline.
But I want my listeners to get an idea of what it would be like to do the method.
HANNAH RANSOM: So it’s actually something that does generally [inaudible 00:20:59] but overwhelming at first for most people. So I just want to warn you that if it does sound overwhelming to you, you’re not alone. Most people do think, “Wow.
That sounds difficult. Could I really do that?”
DEBRA: Let me tell you. Yes, you can do it. Actually, it becomes second nature.
HANNAH RANSOM: Yes, it’s so second nature once you start doing it. But what you do every day is you take your morning temperature. Like I mentioned, that is something that goes up after ovulation. So it’s something that’s only telling you after you ovulate. But it’s the second sign that we use.
And then you also check your cervical fluid. So that’s fluid of your vaginal opening. And those fluids tend to come in a cyclical pattern, and if they don’t, then it’s possible that you might have an infection, or something like that, which is another reason that this method is great.
It’s just being familiar with what your body is like in a normal state. You really have a lot more info for when something funky happens to you, knowing immediately if that it’s off. But you check that and I personally recommend that you just notice it every time you go to the bathroom because you could have days you’ll have a lot of cervical fluid at just one time.
But it’s something that becomes so second nature, and you just notice it, and especially when you’re already going to the bathroom. You’re ready to check it.
Those are the two main signs. There is another optional sign for if one of those things is different, if you’re not sure. You can also check your cervical position, and your cervix is at the bottom of your uterus, which is at the top of your vaginal canal. So it does require you to check internally your cervical position. But that is something that will [inaudible 00:23:15] and raise around ovulation, while your cervical fluid is getting wetter, and more like egg white, rather than either there being nothing, or being a white, more dry kind of secretion.
DEBRA: And my experience has been that when you start being aware of those hormonal changes, that there are other indicators that you might become aware of. It’s just a matter of how much awareness you start to develop about where you are in your cycle, how you’re feeling. There could be changes in how things taste when you eat certain foods.
You might notice, “This tastes different. Chocolate tastes different,” or whatever.
Or you might have more or less energy, or things smell differently, or your body smells differently.
There are just all kinds of changes going on because as you go through the cycle every month, it’s this big change of hormones. It really is a major change of hormones, almost like black and white. It’s so different.
And as you start tracking what’s going on with that, you just become so much more familiar with your body, and how your body changes on a day to day basis.
And I really like that awareness that you start seeing in nature, everything is different at any moment. If you look at the environment, every moment is different—the air is different, the light is different, the plants are different, and yet, this is a very different orientation than our industrial orientation where everything comes out of a factory exactly the same.
And so part of this is just getting accustomed to that beautiful variation of nature.
I just think it’s a beautiful experience, and I think that it’s a totally viable method of birth control that is worth exploring.
We need to take a break, and we’ll be right back again with Hannah. And we’ll be talking more about natural fertility awareness. This is Hannah Ransom, founder of Holistic Hormonal Health at HolisticHormonalHealth.com. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and this is Toxic Free Talk Radio.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Hannah Ransom, founder of Holistic Hormonal Health, and that’s at HolisticHormonalHealth.com.
Hannah, during the break, I was looking again at your website, and I just want to tell the listeners that if they go to your website, the first thing they’re going to see on your homepage is the opportunity to register for a free live webinar to learn more about this. The next one is December 10th, at 6:00pm, PSD.
So you can register for that.
And then right below that, there’s a link that says, “What I Teach Here and Why It’s Amazing.”
And it will explain all of the things that we were just talking about in the last segment and more.
And at the bottom, there’s a list of pros and cons.
So let’s talk about those.
HANNAH RANSOM: So obviously, big pros are that there are no side effects. And then also, what we were getting into was the positive things about it that you really can become more empowered using this.
I think, personally, and my experience has been with working with other people who have used this method, it gives women another reason to appreciate their body. We’re so much focused on looks, especially, with women’s bodies. I think that getting in tune with your body that way and having another thing to care of, seeing your health in that way rather than, “Oh, I just am focusing on the looks of my body,” I think that that can be a super empowering thing for women.
DEBRA: Another thing too—I totally agree with you because I’ve experienced that. Another thing about it is that what you’re doing is that you’re taking the responsibility for finding out what’s going on with your body, so that then you can make a choice about what your actions are going to be.
And if you’re doing something that supports the health of your body by doing that, particularly, the hormonal contraceptives, they’re harming your body, and it’s about, “Don’t get pregnant. Don’t get pregnant. Don’t get pregnant.”
And you’re taking those pills even on days when you wouldn’t get pregnant anyway.
And so there’s all this attention on don’t get pregnant, and now, we have huge amount of infertility in our culture today. And to take on a daily basis something and have that intention to not get pregnant, not get pregnant, that goes against what life is about.
Our bodies are designed to continue to perpetuate [inaudible 00:28:48] species, to have the pleasure of doing the activity that does perpetuate the species, that we’re supposed to be having children unless we decide that we don’t want to have them.
And so this method supports that intention of life rather than working against it. And that’s, I think, a beautiful, bigger picture.
HANNAH RANSOM: Yes, it’s interesting that you mentioned the infertility and that aspect of it. Of course, there are the parts of it that are related to perhaps young girls who are having hormonal imbalances and problems with their cycles taking these pills to mask that. And then they come off the pills, ready to get pregnant, and while they still have that hormonal imbalance, plus all the years of taking the hormones.
But there’s also that emotional aspect to it.
If you’ve subconsciously, your whole life, been thinking, “Don’t get pregnant. This body is not a place for babies. This body is not a place for fertility,” no matter how much you want a kid, there could be—and I’m not saying this is everyone, but there could still be a little bit of subconscious thought in you like, “Don’t get pregnant. This is not a place to get pregnant.”
So yes, there is so much to it.
DEBRA: And then another point that you made is that it’s good for the environment because artificial hormones are getting into our waterways, and they are affecting—the water that we drink that comes out of our tap, those hormones don’t get removed at the water treatment plant.
So not only are all the animals and birds and insects and everything in the environment, now, drinking water with those artificial hormones in them, which they don’t need at all, we’re getting them in our tap water whether we want them or not, unless we filter them out.
And that’s not good. That’s just not good.
These drugs are designed to be given to women by prescription, by a doctor, and because there are inadequate ways to control what happens after they flow out of the body, and into the system of life, everybody’s getting them now.
And that’s something that we need to be concerned about.
So let’s see. What else? What are some other benefits?
HANNAH RANSOM: I think one of the big benefits is that control and personal responsibility, even though as we covered, it does tend to be one of the things that holds people back. Having that amazing amount of control and intention with everything really did lead to birth control and your reproductive choices can be a really amazing experience for people.
DEBRA: I think so too. I think it’s good for couples, for them both to know what’s going on and when is the fertile time for the couple, and not just the woman, but the fertile time for the couple, and for the man to be aware of that too, and cooperate with the women when they have sex.
I think it’s a beautiful thing for two people to make that decision together, and not to have a woman feel like she has to be available all the time.
HANNAH RANSOM: Yes, it’s definitely something that can enhance communication in a relationship because there is both that more open door of communication with every cycle, having the intention of conceiving or not.
And also, being able to talk about where you are in your cycle.
And those are intimate things that some people will just choose not to get into with their partners if they can handle not getting into it with some other method.
DEBRA: Well, it requires some willingness to communicate for sure. So what are some of the cons that people object to about this?
HANNAH RANSOM: I would say that the biggest one is just that you do need to use it correctly and consistently. It’s something that you should learn well and you should also make sure that you are very conscious about your choices around it.
A lot of times, if you are a little more unsure about whether you want to have a baby or not, that could translate into taking risks.
And this is a method that if you are taking risks, you are having unprotected intercourse in the time that you’re likely to get pregnant.
So basically, just having that and also taking the time to learn it, it’s something that as we talked about, it becomes second nature for sure. But it’s something that in the beginning, it can seem a little overwhelming, and you want to wait generally at least a couple of cycles until you use it as a birth control method because you want to make sure that you know what’s going on in your body and that you have a handle on the rules that you need to apply and all of that stuff before you really use it.
So it’s something that you want to learn well, and you want to take some time to get to know before you use it. And a lot of people are impatient.
It’s definitely something that can be [inaudible 00:35:08].
DEBRA: Hannah, tell us more about the various resources you have available on your website.
HANNAH RANSOM: I write every single week about things related to birth control, effectiveness, fertility awareness, getting more into it. Right now, I’ve also been running some books giveaways, also fertility awareness and birth control resources. And
I have a free webinar coming up that you talked about.
And you can see that right on the homepage.
I also have resources in terms of books, really great books in terms of learning more about your fertility, about hormonal health, since many people [inaudible 00:36:04] to getting of those hormones is really upping their hormonal health.
And I’m sure people listening to this radio show, they’ll probably have that pretty covered since they’re toxic-free folks.
DEBRA: Well, maybe, maybe not, despite [inaudible 00:36:25] for some people. We’re almost to the end of the show. I just want to thank you so much for being on the show. And I’m so glad that we could talk about this, and let more people know about it.
I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. This is Toxic Free Talk Radio. And you can find out more about Toxic Free Talk Radio at ToxicFreeRadio.com. You can listen to other shows in the archives, or listen to this show again. Thank you for being here.
