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{In no situation do we ever recommend that fertility diagnosis or treatment be undertaken without the oversight of a qualified medical practitioner. Please use the enclosed information as quick reference and for discussion aids with your practitioner.}

At the start of every conception journey, women hear the term BBT. Just what is this all-important diagnostic tool?

Basal Body Temperature (BBT)

BBT simply refers to a baseline reading of your body's temp, that is, the temp your body typically runs before any physical activity occurs (other than the activity of your organs doing their thing.) Keeping track of your BBT, commonly referred to as "tracking" or "charting," over a period of several cycles can help detect a pattern of fertility.

It is often recommended (or required) by fertility professionals (and insurance companies) that a woman chart her BBT for at least three months before moving forward with any other treatment decisions.

Here, a quick rundown of how the BBT charting process works:

• Equip yourself
  • graph paper (usually provided at your doctor's office or you can download them, too)
  • pen or pencil
  • watch or clock, preferably digital
  • BBT thermometer
• First thing in the morning
  • Don't move a muscle
  • pop thermometer in and take temp as directed
  • read thermometer
  • write down reading immediately or pinpoint on the graph under the day's date
• Do it every day!
• Make a picture by connecting the dots, illustrating your temp fluctuations from day to day.
  • Use the first day of your period as Day 1 of your cycle.
• Analyze your chart, looking for patterns over several cycles.

What Does It All Mean?

When your reproductive hormones are in working, fertile order, your body will experience rather predictable temperature fluctuations during a cycle. The actual degree of temp is not as important as the fluctuations themselves, the degree of fluctuation, and the continuing pattern (if any) over several cycles.

A typically average, fertile cycle will indicate a dip in temp just before a sustained rise indicating ovulation has occurred (called a biphasic chart).

In some cases of subfertility or infertility, temp patterns may be difficult or even impossible to detect.

Rather than simply being used to predict ovulation, BBT charts are helpful in diagnosing some medical conditions and the existence in general of ovulation regularity.

For more details, see:

Natural Methods to Detect Fertility

Am I Ovulating?: Your BBT

How to Chart Your BBT