Chanana describes womb literacy very simply: in today’s world most would not argue the value of literacy; most of us are taught to read, write, and understand the world around us, yet many women reach adulthood feeling completely illiterate when it comes to their own wombs.

Her work is about bringing that literacy back.

Through Womb Literacy, Chanana teaches women how to observe and better understand fertility biomarkers such as basal body temperature and cervical secretions. She also explores how womb literacy and cycle awareness can become broader tools for understanding sexual and reproductive health.

Her philosophy goes beyond charts and data. Womb Literacy brings together physical education, holistic sexual health, spiritual awareness, and a deeper relationship with the female body.

Chanana McGarry is the founder of Womb Literacy and a certified Fertility Awareness Educator, trained through the two-year program at The Well School of Body Literacy and meeting the standards of the Association of Fertility Awareness Professionals. Her work grew out of her own experience navigating unplanned pregnancies, learning fertility awareness firsthand, and then spending more than a decade studying reproductive health, natural birth control, and body literacy.

What makes Chanana's approach unique is that she combines science-based fertility awareness education with a broader understanding of womb literacy, sexual health, cyclical awareness, and ancestral feminine wisdom, including drawing inspiration from the Mujaji lineage of the Rain Queens of Southern Africa that runs through her family line. She helps women move beyond simply tracking dates or relying on apps so they can develop a deeper understanding of their bodies and fertility.

If you're curious about fertility awareness, natural birth control, menstrual cycle education, or simply want to better understand your body, the next step is to explore Chanana's courses and educational resources through Womb Literacy. You can also check back for upcoming in-person events in the Phoenix Valley.

Fertility awareness is the practice of learning how to observe and understand the biological signs that change throughout the menstrual cycle such as basal body temperature and/or cervical fluid secretions.

Rather than simply predicting your cycle using calendar dates, the fertility awareness method teaches you how to recognize and understand information your body is already providing.

At Womb Literacy, Chanana teaches the sympto-thermal method of fertility awareness, studied scientifically for over 40 years and proven to be up to 99.6% effective with perfect use which takes less than five minutes a day to achieve.  At Womb Literacy, Chanana teaches fertility awareness as part of a larger understanding of the body, fertility, sexual health, and menstrual cycle.

Yes. Natural birth control education is one of Chanana's primary areas of focus.
Many women discover Womb Literacy because they are researching natural birth control, non-hormonal birth control options, or ways to better understand their fertility.

It can be hard to know who to turn to for answers about natural birth control when only 1-4% of medical professionals have received real training in these methods.  When your Gyno says natural birth control does not work, that’s a training gap, not a medical consensus. 

Chanana's programs are educational and designed to teach the concepts, observations, and skills involved in fertility awareness. 

Her Natural Birth Control Blueprint has helped dozens of women, it’s previously been taught through live classes and one-on-one education, and is now available in a self paced version with asynchronous support and a built in 1:1 consultation.

No. This is one of the most common misconceptions Chanana encounters.
The rhythm method is an outdated and notoriously unreliable method of guesstimating when a woman is fertile based primarily on dates and previous cycle lengths. 

Fertility awareness education involves learning to observe your body’s own unique biological signs in real time rather than relying only on guesses and predictions.

Understanding that difference is an important part of learning what modern fertility awareness actually involves - it's a large part of why the sympto-thermal method Chanana teaches can reach effectiveness rates up to 99.6 percent, well beyond what calendar-based methods offer.

Nope, but this is a huge misconception!

A period tracking app can be useful for recording information, but apps are not psychics, nor are they privvy to the actual day to day workings of your unique internal environment.  Entering dates into an app so it can calculate and guesstimate is different from learning how to understand your own fertility signs, and it’s not an effective form of birth control.

It's also worth knowing that several popular fertility apps have faced scrutiny for sharing intimate health data with third parties, things like when you are fertile, when you are pregnant and more.

One of the central ideas behind Womb Literacy is reclaiming our power as women and moving beyond simply asking an app what your body is doing, empowering yourself to recognize and understand the information your body is giving you.

Fertility biomarkers are physical signs that can be observed throughout the menstrual cycle.
Two of the primary biomarkers Chanana teaches are basal body temperature and cervical secretions. Together, these two signs are what allow women to identify their fertile window each month with 99.6% accuracy, as well as help her identify underlying hormonal imbalances. Her courses help students learn what these observations are, how they fit into fertility awareness education, and why understanding them can provide a deeper level of body literacy.

For Chanana, learning about your cycle is about much more than trying to achieve or avoid pregnancy or knowing when your next period will arrive.

Cycle education can help women become more familiar with their reproductive rhythms, fertility biomarkers, sexual health, and changes they experience cyclically throughout the month.

Chanana also teaches the idea of the menstrual cycle as a "fifth vital sign," as it was dubbed by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists, meaning that observing the cycle can provide as much or more valuable information about a woman’s underlying health as her pulse, heart rate, blood pressure and respiration rate.

There is an enormous amount of information about fertility, cycle tracking, and natural birth control online. Unfortunately, that can also make it difficult to know what information applies, what terminology means, and how all the pieces fit together.

Chanana knows this firsthand - her second unplanned pregnancy came from an unsupported attempt to learn fertility awareness from a book, without the training or support to apply it correctly.

Working with an educator gives you a structured way to learn.  Only 1-4% of medical professionals are taught this, and so many influencers are just repeating what they read in books and heard online.  Chanana has personally seen so called women’s health experts online recommending things that have been shown to be highly ineffective forms of contraction such as avoiding sex around day 14, using an app, or using the calendar method.

Chanana created Womb Literacy to take these concepts out of the realm of scattered articles, apps, and social media posts and teach them as a connected system that students can actually understand, alongside expert support.

Not at all! 

Natural birth control is one focus of Chanana's work, but her definition of Womb Literacy is much broader.  Women who are child free by choice, with partners who have vasectomies, those trying to conceive and those who are navigating irregular cycles would all benefit from this support.

Women may also explore Womb Literacy because they want to understand fertility, become more knowledgeable about their menstrual cycle, learn about their body's biomarkers, deepen their sexual health education, heal from symptoms and painful cycles, or simply develop a stronger connection with a part of themselves they were never taught to understand.

The common thread is education and empowerment through greater body literacy.

Womb Literacy offers education around fertility awareness, natural birth control, menstrual cycle understanding, fertility biomarkers, sexual health, and the deeper physical and spiritual relationship women can develop with their bodies.

Chanana offers self-guided education as well as opportunities for more personalized learning.

If these ideas feel new to you, that is completely normal. A large part of Chanana's work exists because so many women were never given this education in the first place.

Coming soon!

Chanana is developing opportunities to bring Womb Literacy into live, in-person settings throughout the Phoenix Valley. These events will create opportunities to learn, connect, and explore womb literacy, fertility awareness, menstrual cycle education, and body literacy, holistic sexual health and sexuality in a community environment.
Check back in a few months for upcoming Phoenix-area events and locations.