Project Lifecycle aims to provide couples of the island of Tablas in the Romblon Province of the Philippines with a cheap contraceptive method that works within the region's religious norms.
The method that was chosen is called the SDM Method (Standard Days Method).
The SDM is a simple and effective fertility awareness-based method of family planning developed through scientific analysis of the fertile time in the woman’s menstrual cycle. The SDM is based on the fact that there is an identifiable “fertile window” during the woman’s menstrual cycle—several days before ovulation and about 1 day after—when she can become pregnant. To prevent pregnancy, users avoid unprotected intercourse on days 8 to 19 of the cycle—a formula based on computer analysis of 7,500 menstrual cycles. Some couples choose to abstain during the fertile days while others prefer to use a barrier method, usually condoms. A set of colored beads, called CycleBeads, facilitate provision and use of the SDM by helping a woman track her cycle days, know which days she is fertile, and monitor her cycle lengths.
As with all Meaningful Volunteer projects, we have approached Project Lifecycle with a scientific mindset. We follow the best practice methods available, document what we discover, and make the information freely available to all. It is important to have a coordinated approach to documentation with a project of this size and complexity with volunteers forever coming and going.
This online project plan (see below) allows us to coordinate the effort. All our latest efforts and findings will be documented here.
The project plan is based on the Standard Days Method: Implementation Guidelines for Program Personnel. which was developed by Georgetown University in Washington D.C. The orginal document can be downloaded here.
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the material is distributed free of charge and the Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University and/or Meaningful Volunteer is credited as the source of all copies, reproductions, distributions and adaptations of the material.