The Sensiplan Method

With Sensiplan, you’ll learn to make informed decisions: Do you want to use reliable contraception, fulfill your wish to have children, or simply become more aware of your body?

Sensiplan combines body awareness with scientific cycle tracking. By monitoring your temperature, cervical mucus, and other cycle signs, you can reliably identify your fertile and infertile days – without any hormones.

In this way, Sensiplan offers girls and women of all ages a way to connect with their bodies.

Why Sensiplan?

Sensiplan is the only non-hormonal method whose safety has been scientifically proven.

More and more women no longer want to burden their bodies with hormonal contraceptives month after month and are concerned about potential health consequences. And many want to “understand what’s happening in my body, not just take something.”

But where to start? Apps, myths, and half-truths tend to cause confusion rather than provide reassurance.

Sensiplan gives you the knowledge and tools to understand your cycle and make your own decisions; whether you’re trying to avoid pregnancy, planning to have a baby, or recovering after childbirth.

The effectiveness of a family planning method is typically expressed using the Pearl Index. This index indicates how many out of 100 women become unintentionally pregnant in a year when a specific method is used consistently. Studies conducted at the Universities of Düsseldorf and Heidelberg have determined the following figures for Sensiplan:

Out of 7,866 cycles, only three unintended pregnancies occurred. This corresponds to a method effectiveness of 0.4 PI (Pearl Index).

When used correctly, Sensiplan is therefore comparable to the pill.

There is another measure of a method’s safety: user safety, or safety in everyday use. This depends heavily on the couple, as it takes into account factors such as “failure to follow the rules” as well as a poor understanding of the method. In the accompanying user safety study—that is, in the investigations of safety under everyday conditions—the Pearl Index is 1.8.

Recommended by doctors & midwives

The gynecological community agrees: Sensiplan is the method of choice for non-hormonal contraception. Sensiplan ranks at the top of natural methods, with a remarkable method effectiveness of 0.4 and a user effectiveness of 1.8 (Pearl Index). The guideline includes learning Sensiplan through one-on-one counseling with a counselor on-site.

Getting Started with Sensiplan

You’ll learn the Sensiplan method and gain confidence by analyzing your own cycles. How you learn the method depends on your individual learning style. Certified Sensiplan consultants are here to support you, helping you apply the method with confidence during the Sensiplan course. You also have the option to learn the method through e-learning or the book. Our studies show that the most reliable way to understand the method is with a certified Sensiplan consultant. That’s why we refer to our network of consultants in all our materials.

No matter what you decide:

You’ll learn the basics of self-observation, practice interpreting your body’s signals, and finally learn how to handle specific life situations. Experience shows that after three observation cycles, women are able to reliably determine their fertile and infertile periods. Our network of Sensiplan advisors is here to support you every step of the way.

When you start with Sensiplan, all you need at the beginning is a basal thermometer, a pen, and a cycle chart. As an alternative to the cycle chart, you’ll soon be able to use our Sensiplan app for tracking.

Sensiplan for Couples Trying to Conceive

Sensiplan helps you pinpoint your fertile window. For couples trying to conceive, it’s crucial to know when the woman is most likely to get pregnant.

You can do this by learning to recognize fertility signs and adjusting your sexual activity accordingly. The two key physical signs of Natural Family Planning (NFP)—observing cervical mucus and tracking temperature changes—enable women to better understand their own cycles in a simple way. Studies from the scientific research project NFP show how remarkably accurately biological processes align with self-observed ovulation.

A major advantage of Sensiplan is that all of this happens without additional hormones or external interventions. You learn the method once and can apply it immediately.

It has been proven that the pregnancy rate is higher among people with NFP experience than among those without:

If you are still unable to conceive, the cycle records you create with Sensiplan provide valuable diagnostic information for your healthcare providers and can help guide targeted treatment.

Who is behind Sensiplan?

Sensiplan is a brand of the Working Group for Natural Family Planning (AG NFP), which is part of the Malteser organization and was founded in 1981.

The AG NFP is led by an interdisciplinary team. The team includes Petra Klann-Heinen, head of the working group; gynecologist Dr. Tanja Freundl-Schütt; Anja Plasil (assistant); Regina Hauenstein (Sensiplan counselor, back office); Shannen Reffert (junior content & community manager); as well as freelance collaborators from the fields of medicine, education, and psychology.
Since the 1980s, the NFP working group has been scientifically supported by the Sektion Natürliche Fertilität (SNF) an der Universtitätsklinik Heidelberg.