The patient experiencing infertility is to complete three months of documenting her basal body temperatures. Which statement by the patient indicates a need for additional teaching?

Question

1. "I should check my temperature with this special thermometer before I get out of bed each day."
2. "I will track my temperatures and the consistency of my cervical mucus for the next three months."
3. "If I am ovulating, my temperature will be a smooth, even line on the graph that does not go up or down."
4. "The point of checking my basal body temperature is to determine whether I am ovulating regularly."

Answer 1

Correct Answer: 3
Rationale 1: The basal body temperature is most accurate prior to arising each day. A thermometer with larger spaces between tenths of a degree is used to facilitate accurate recording.
Rationale 2: Taking the temperature each morning will help detect ovulation. Checking cervical mucus daily for changes in consistency and stretchiness is another method to detect ovulation. Combining the two methods gives better information on when ovulation is occurring than one method does alone.
Rationale 3: A flat line on the graph is a monophasic cycle indicating a lack of ovulation. An ovulating woman will have a biphasic pattern to her basal body temperature. The temperature will drop slightly prior to ovulation, and rise about .5–1.0°F as ovulation occurs, remaining elevated if conception occurs or dropping just prior to onset of menses.
Rationale 4: Basal body temperatures are less predictive of when ovulation occurs, but an increase in the latter half of the cycle indicates that ovulation has occurred.