Tracking your basal body temperature doesn't require special preparation. If you don't want to conceive, you and your partner must avoid having sex or use a barrier method of contraception during your fertile days each month. But, the method requires motivation and diligence. Using the basal body temperature method along with another fertility awareness-based method for birth control may improve the method's effectiveness. As many as 1 in 4 women - maybe even more - who use fertility awareness-based methods to prevent pregnancy will become pregnant after one year of typical use. Likewise, using the basal body temperature method for birth control doesn't pose any direct risks, but it doesn't offer protection from sexually transmitted infections - and it's one of the least effective natural family planning methods. Using the basal body temperature method to promote fertility doesn't pose any risks. This combination of approaches is sometimes referred to as the symptothermal or symptohormonal method.

You might also use an electronic fertility monitor to measure hormone levels in your urine, which can tell you which days you're fertile.

The basal body temperature method is often combined with the cervical mucus method of natural family planning, where you keep track of cervical secretions throughout the course of a menstrual cycle. Following ovulation, a rise in basal body temperature that lasts for 18 or more days may be an early indicator of pregnancy. The basal body temperature method can also be used to detect pregnancy. Some women may choose to use the basal body temperature method for religious reasons. Tracking your basal body temperature for either fertility or contraception is inexpensive and doesn't have any side effects. Basal body temperature can be used as a way to predict fertility or as a part of a method of contraception, by helping you gauge the best days to have or avoid unprotected sex.

Truetell thermometer