Does the salivary fern pattern determine fertile period in reproductive female?

Abstract

Introduction: Assessment of the basal body temperature (BBT) is generally used to predict the fertile period. On the other hand, it is well documented that the fern pattern appears before ovulation due to increased estrogen level from the cervical mucus. However, the collection of cervical smear is cumbersome. Delta change in the BBT serves as ovulatory indicator whereas fern pattern has a temporal specificity from 11th to the 16th day. Since the saliva also mirrors the cervical fern pattern and easy to collect, it can be used to assess the fertile status. So the present study was done to compare the BBL with salivary smear for fern pattern to determine the fertile period. Method: ology: The present study was carried out in 23 healthy female volunteers in the age group of 18–21 years with regular menstrual cycles of 28 days. Ethical clearance was obtained from the institute ethics committee. The basal body temperatures were measured and salivary smears were observed under low power objective (10X) for fern pattern analysis from 11th to 16th day of the menstrual cycle. Result: On any given day from 11th to 16th day fern pattern appeared with an average of 53.7% as a fertility indicator in all the subjects. The delta change in basal body temperature varied from 0.2 to 1.4° Fahrenheit over a span of 6 days. Conclusion: Salivary fern pattern and basal body temperature together might serve as better indicators of fertility status than anyone individually taken which is a non-invasive and cost-effective method to increase the chances of conception.