The menstrual cycle isn’t just about having babies, claims author Lisa Hendrickson-Jack in her book, The Fifth Vital Sign—it’s also about your health as a woman. The four most commonly accepted vital signs of health (typically taken in a doctor’s office during a checkup or in an emergency situation) include blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate, and body temperature. But for women, Hendrickson-Jack writes, the menstrual cycle is a fifth vital sign of both health and fertility.
Le cinquième signe vital is an overarching guide to all things cycles and fertility, covering everything a woman needs to know about her period, her hormonal health, and getting off hormonal birth control. It bursts at the seams with research and data but is written in an easy-to-understand (and fun to read!) way. Here, we’ll explore Le cinquième signe vital and weigh whether or not it’s a must-buy for women interested in learning more about their cycles.
If you’re familiar with fertility awareness, you’ve probably come across Lisa Hendrickson-Jack. She is the host of the popular Fertility Fridays podcast, in which she discusses everything pertaining to fertility and women’s health. She is also the recent co-author of De vrais aliments pour la fertilité, and teaches women’s health professionals how to use fertility awareness methods (FAM) with her mentorship program. Hendrickson-Jack has been teaching women how to chart their cycles for nearly two decades.
Who is the intended audience of The Fifth Vital Sign?
Any woman of reproductive age could benefit from reading The Fifth Vital Sign— no matter whether you’re unmarried and trying to understand your periods, using FAM to avoid pregnancy, or wanting to begin or expand your family. The majority of the book is focused on how to read your signs of fertility, and use that information to make observations about your health or achieve or avoid pregnancy. There are also multiple chapters which cover the effects of birth control and how to come off the Pill in a healthy way. Readers who are currently on hormonal birth control (but looking to change that!) will benefit particularly from these sections, as Hendrickson-Jack includes detailed guidance on what happens in the months after discontinuing birth control.
One of the most refreshing parts of Hendrickson-Jack’s perspective on FAM is that she does not see fertility awareness as a quick fix when trying to conceive or as something only necessary in certain seasons of life. She describes FAM as “a whole new world” (pg. 3) that allows a woman to understand her health from an early age, avoid pregnancy without contraceptives, and optimize her chances of conceiving quickly. Just as the cycle is a steady vital sign in a woman’s reproductive years, FAM offers constant reassurance during those years that her health is on the right track.
What are the main content areas of The Fifth Vital Sign?
Le cinquième signe vital begins with an explanation of why the menstrual cycle is a vital sign of a woman’s health. Hendrickson-Jack also gives descriptions about what a healthy period looks like. She then delves into the basics of fertility awareness, discussing cervical mucus, menstrual cycle charting, and how other diagnoses, like thyroid issues or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), can affect your cycle.
This is followed by two chapters on hormonal birth control, covering both the Pill’s effects on fertility, and what to do when you are ready to come éteint birth control. Hendrickson-Jack also gets into the nitty-gritty of charting to avoid or achieve pregnancy, how to improve your cervical mucus, and nutrition and lifestyle choices for healthy cycles. She additionally includes advice on how to improve your period pain, PMS, or irregular cycles, and she discusses planning ahead for pregnancy.
Quels sont les points forts de Le cinquième signe vital?
Complex concepts broken down for easy understanding
One of the strengths of Hendrickson-Jack’s writing is her ability to make complex information more accessible to the average reader. She does this by giving personal examples or by displaying information in charts and bullet-point lists. In her chapter on cervical mucus, for example, she not only gives a thorough explanation of what cervical mucus is and why it’s so necessary to fertility, but also includes a chart (p. 32) to illustrate which kinds of cervical mucus are normal and which kinds are abnormal.
The diagnostic value of the menstrual cycle
The chapter which speaks most to the idea of the cycle as the fifth vital sign is chapter 6, “Your Menstrual Cycle as a Diagnostic Tool.” In this section, Hendrickson-Jack walks us through the ways in which our cycle could be “off:” weird cervical mucus patterns, short luteal phases, heavy bleeding, extremely short or light periods, or abnormal basal body temperature (BBT) readings. She connects these symptoms to various possible hormonal health disorders (such as thyroid issues or PCOS), providing valuable information for women who are concerned about the health of their cycles and fertility.
The wisdom of the female cycle
In the midst of her more technical chapters on charting and detoxing from the Pill, Hendrickson-Jack also includes a short section on “The Wisdom of the Menstrual Cycle.” Here, she explains how her cycle is “one of the greatest teachers in [her] life” (p. 134). She writes that she spent so much of her life just dealing with painful periods, that it would’ve been easy to simply hate this part of her life and want to shut it out with contraceptives. Instead, she learned that “each menstrual cycle represents an opportunity to work through life’s challenges” (p. 134). Our connection to our health is severed when we take hormonal contraceptives, she writes, as we lose this valuable wisdom given to us by the design of our female bodies.
She continues this chapter by explaining that it’s okay to feel the need to relax and retreat when we’re on our periods—we don’t need to be climbing mountains and running marathons during our periods like a tampon commercial might suggest! Women have the opportunity to lean into the natural cycles of their bodies, building the framework of their lives not outside of our menstrual cycle, but instead à l'intérieur it. Hendrickson-Jack even touches on some basics of synchronisation des cycles in this section, offering practical suggestions for activities to engage in or avoid during each phase of the cycle.
Le cinquième signe vital’s limitations or blindspots
An obvious limitation of Le cinquième signe vital is that although it does discuss the ins and outs of fertility charting, it is pas a thorough explanation of any particular method of FAM or NFP (Natural Family Planning). If you’re looking to learn FAM in order to achieve or avoid pregnancy, it’s best to seek out training in a proven method. (To be fair, however, Le cinquième signe vital does include a number of resources in the back of the book for women who are looking to be officially trained in a method of FAM.)
Another area that is lacking in Le cinquième signe vital is a look into the life phases that can make cycles a little more difficult to chart and understand. Two of the most common complaints from women about FAM are that it can be more difficult in a postpartum or perimenopausal season, when they are still cycling but ovulation is less frequent or more irregular. These are times when it’s important to lean on an evidence-based method of FAM and find support for dealing with these specific hormonal changes. While Hendrickson-Jack does discuss how the cycle can be impacted by health-related issues, she does pas delve into postpartum or perimenopausal charting, missing out on providing some key areas of information for many of her readers.
The verdict: To buy, borrow, or skip The Fifth Vital Sign?
Le cinquième signe vital is a must-buy for any woman looking to learn about how vitally important (pun intended) her cycle is. Hendrickson-Jack does a fantastic job taking readers through what a healthy menstrual cycle looks like, how to achieve healthier and more fertile cycles, and what to do if you’re on hormonal birth control and wish to discontinue it. Her book is also a great reference resource if you are experiencing specific issues with your fertile signs or period and wanting to understand more fully what could be going on.
The sections on preparing for pregnancy and nutrition for healthy cycles are also valuable, but if your focus is particularly trying to conceive or improving your hormones with food, I’d recommend the more comprehensive De vrais aliments pour la fertilité instead, which Hendrickson-Jack co-wrote with Lily Nichols, a Registered Dietician. Nevertheless, Le cinquième signe vital is an extensive look into the menstrual cycle that truly has something for every woman in her fertile years.
