What is
Sensiplan®
Science provides us today with an extremely reliable method for diagnosing hormonal changes, fertile and infertile days, which is firmly based on science: Sensiplan®.
Sensiplan is the most advanced version of symptothermal methods, a significant improvement from all other symptothermal methods in terms of methodology, scientific studies on its reliability and flexibility, as well as teaching materials. If you are an Ob-Gyn outside of Germany, this is not the same method you were taught at university. It is three steps beyond.
WHAT IS SENSIPLAN®
Sensiplan® is a scientific method of fertility awareness, where we learn to observe the body signals of female fertility, which clearly change during the cycle.
These signs make it possible to determine with great accuracy fertile and infertile days throughout the cycle, and they can also alert of hormonal diseases.
Therefore, the methodology used by Sensiplan® is suitable:
- to monitor hormonal imbalances (estrogen, progesterone and hypothyroidism) and monitor overall health, since the menstrual cycle can be used as the fifth vital sign.
- to avoid a pregnancy.
- to achieve a pregnancy.
Sensiplan® teaches women how to monitor two body signals in double-check (also called biomarkers):
- body temperature
- cervical mucus (or cervix, as an alternative)
EFFICACY OF SENSIPLAN® FOR BIRTH CONTROL
Sensiplan®  offers the same efficacy as the Pill. It is the most studied and effective method available. Out of 100 people who apply the method correctly, 0.4 will get unintentionally pregnant over one year (method-efficacy, or perfect-method, i.e. no vaginal penetration during the fertile window). No single birth control method is 100% reliable, that is right: even tube-ligation or vasectomy still present slim chances of unintended pregnancy.
The efficacy of the method is influenced by the user’s compliance to the rules, and this is true for any form of birth control. For instance, you need to take the Pill every day at the same time, to have maximum efficacy (which is equal to 0.3). If you start skipping pills, or changing the time you take it, the efficacy decreases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 9 out 100 people who are on the pill will get unintentionally pregnant over one year (user-efficacy or Typical-use). For Sensiplan®, Typical-use efficacy is 1.8, making Sensiplan® more reliable than oral hormonal contraception and more reliable than any other fertility awareness method, as the most extensive systematic review ever carried out confirmed in August 2018 (see picture, where T stands for Typical-use and P for Perfect-use).
WHAT CLIENTS SAY
“Sensiplan should be taught from a young age, because it has so many benefits beyond contraception. It is very empowering to be able to make informed decisions and to know yourself in and out. What you do is so important and seeing how you merge science, or Yang, with Yin qualities inspires me to create beauty. Thank you for being part of my journey.”
– I. B. –
BENEFITS OF SENSIPLAN®
- Method-efficacy rate 99.6 % and user-efficacy rate 98.2% (user efficacy is the number that takes into account human error. The oral pill stops at 91%).
- Totally free of any harmful health side-effect.
- Protects ovulation and its lovely benefits.
- Promotes body literacy.
- Encourages mutual responsibility in the couple.
- Helps hetero-couples to spice up their sex-life by shifting the focus from sex = penetration to sex = pleasure + intimacy + imagination + fun.
- Applicable in special circumstances such as irregular cycles, shift work, post-partum, breastfeeding and peri-menopause.
- Can help you avoid unnecessary medical procedures, like IVF and labor induction.
- Can help you navigate the changes of peri-menopause (the last two to ten years before menopause).
- Can help you prevent hormonal imbalances by spotting them as soon as they manifest.
Sensiplan® is totally free of any health side-effect. It is a monitoring method that makes the people aware of what happens with their own fertility, a form of literacy that increases your self-esteem, sovereignty and self-determination. It is a form of lasting emancipation.
Sensiplan® preserves ovulation, which is a pillar of mental and physical health, while hormonal contraception suppresses ovulation and has been linked to breast cancer, loss of bone density, loss of nutrients, loss of libido, depression, blood clots, and dozens of other side effects. You can read the 2019 book by Dr. Sarah Hill “How the pill changes everything”.
CONS OF SENSIPLAN®
- It takes three months and eight-ten hours of lessons with the teacher for you to become autonomous and independent for life and achieve the stated efficacy rate.
- The learning curve can be steep at the beginning due to the general lack of education women receive about their body and menstrual cycle.
- You need to take your temperature every morning for 3 minutes.
- You need to record daily observations of temperature and mucus (around 10 minutes a day in total, between observation and recording).
- Sensiplan® does not protect you against sexually transmitted diseases.
- During the fertile window (which can vary from one week to two weeks, depending on the length of your cycle) you need to use barrier methods to avoid a pregnancy (but keep in mind that the efficacy rate will be that of the e.g. condom and not of Sensiplan®) or use your imagination and avoid vaginal penetration (this is what we call the perfect-method, see above).
HISTORY OF SENSIPLAN®
Sensiplan® belongs to the family of Natural Family Planning (NFP), or Fertility Awareness Based Methods (FAM or FABMs). NFP/FAM are large families, and just like families, they have a great variety, from the dumb embarrassing relatives to the educated and reliable relatives. The symptothermal methods are the most educated, reliable, and accurate.
Of all symptothermal methods, the German method Sensiplan® is by far considered to be the best, offering more reliability than oral contraception. It can also be used to monitor hormonal health, monitor perimenopausal changes or optimize your chances of pregnancy.
Sensiplan® is the German improvement of the so-called “symptothermal method”. It has been studied since 1981 by the German Working Group (Arbeitsgruppe NFP) at University of Düsseldorf and Heidelberg. Over the years there have been a lot of innovations in the field of natural contraception. This inevitably led to a certain degree of confusion regarding the quality of the information available. To distinguish itself, the method of the Arbeitsgruppe was branded in October 2010: Sensiplan®.
Our founder Anna is a certified teacher of Sensiplan and was a student of the late Prof. Dr. med. Guenter Freundl, of the Frauenklinik of Heinrich-Heine University in Duesseldorf and Dr. med. Ursula Sottong (also Vicepresident of the Deutscher Frauenrat, the National Council of German Women’s Organisations).
SENSIPLAN® COMPARED TO APPS AND OTHER DEVICES
Many books, devices and apps have landed on the market in the last years.
Contraceptive apps have not been scientifically tested and are extremely unreliable. Moreover, they do not teach you body literacy, i.e. how to use the cycle as the fifth vital sign.
Medical devices like the Daysy and Natural Cycles are not symptothermal methods, but rhythm/calendar methods with a little bit of temperature-taking, and their efficacy has been disputed. Better-quality research is needed. Similarly, they do not teach body literacy. Daysy costs €299 and Natural Cycles around €65 per year. Hormonal contraception costs vary, e.g. Nuvaring costs €252 per year in Germany.
All in all, Sensiplan® offers more benefits, education, expert support and scientific evidence at a competitive price.
Your teacher:
Anna Buzzoni
Anna is a certified teacher of Sensiplan®, the state-of-the-art method for Fertility Awareness, and a summa cum Laude economist and sociolinguist with a passion for humanities, biology and neuroscience.
She can help you decode and surf your body-mind rhythm, transform symptoms into insight and care, re-imagine your lifestyle, prevent dis-ease and coach you through existing problems.
