Natural Family Planning
The Office of Marriage & Family Life currently promotes and sponsors classes in two methods of NFP instruction in the archdiocese: 1) The Sympto-Thermal Method, taught by the Couple to Couple League, Northwest Family Services, and Natural Family Planning International, and 2) The Creighton Fertility Care System. All of these courses require at least 4 months of instruction before your wedding, so early registration is important.
Natural Family Planning
What is Natural Family Planning?
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an umbrella term for certain methods used to achieve and avoid pregnancies. These methods are based on observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman’s menstrual cycle. Couples using NFP to avoid pregnancy abstain from intercourse and genital contact during the fertile phase of the woman’s cycle. No drugs, devices, or surgical procedures are used to avoid pregnancy. NFP reflects the dignity of the human person within the context of marriage and family life, promotes openness to life, and recognizes the value of the child. By respecting the love-giving and life-giving natures of marriage, NFP can enrich the bond between husband and wife.
Is NFP Rhythm?
NFP is not “Rhythm.”
The Rhythm (or Calendar) method was developed in the 1930s. It was based on the theory that the time of next ovulation could be determined by calculating previous menstrual cycles. This method often proved inaccurate because of the unique nature of each woman’s menstrual cycle: some women have very irregular cycles and almost all women have a cycle of unusual length once in a while.
On the other hand, NFP methods are progressive. That is, they are based on progressive, day-to-day observations of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of the menstrual cycle. NFP methods take advantage of the changes associated with ovulation, treating each cycle as unique.
Couples using NFP to avoid pregnancy abstain from intercourse during the fertile phase of the woman’s cycle. Couples who wish to achieve a pregnancy can also take advantage of the fertile time of the cycle. Because it allows couples to adjust their behavior to the naturally occurring cycles of a woman’s body, NFP is not a contraceptive–i.e., it does nothing to work against conception.
Who can use NFP?
Any married couple can use NFP! A woman need not have “regular” cycles. NFP education helps couples to fully understand their combined fertility, thereby helping them to either achieve or avoid a pregnancy. The key to the successful use of NFP is cooperation and communication between husband and wife–a shared commitment.
As a method of family planning, NFP
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NFP is unique among methods of family planning because it enables its users to work with the body rather than against it. Fertility is viewed as a reality to live, not a problem to be solved.
What are the signs of fertility?
A woman’s body provides three basic ways to identify the fertile and infertile times of her cycle. Recognizing the pattern of those physical signs forms the basis for all methods of NFP.
A primary sign of fertility is the mucus released from the women’s cervix. A woman learns to identify the normal, healthy, cervical mucus which indicates the days that intercourse is most likely to result in a pregnancy. The second sign is her basal body temperature. Due to hormonal activity, a woman’s waking temperature changes during the menstrual cycle. Lower temperatures indicate that ovulation has not yet occurred. Higher temperatures indicate a rise in progesterone which signals the end of the fertile time. The third sign is a change in the shape or texture of the cervix. Finally, secondary signs, such as minor abdominal pain or pressure at the time of ovulation can also be observed.
How does NFP work?
NFP instruction helps a couple identify the most opportune time to achieve as well as avoid a pregnancy. Understanding that intercourse or genital contact during the fertile time can result in pregnancy, couples using the natural methods must be clear regarding their family planning intention–that is, do they wish to achieve or avoid a pregnancy?
If a couple wishes to achieve pregnancy, they have intercourse during the fertile time. If a couple wishes to avoid pregnancy, they abstain from intercourse and any genital contact during the fertile time. No artificial methods are used during the fertile time. These would interfere with a women’s observation of her fertility signs.
What are the benefits of using NFP?
In NFP both spouses are taught to understand the nature of fertility and work with it, either to plan a pregnancy or to avoid a pregnancy. Couples who use NFP soon learn that they have a shared responsibility for family planning. Husbands are encouraged to “tune into” their wives’ cycles and both spouses are encouraged to speak openly and frankly about their sexual desires and their ideas on family size.
Other benefits include
- Low cost
- No harmful side effects
- Effectiveness for achieving, spacing, or limiting pregnancy
- Can be used throughout the reproductive life cycle
- Marriage enrichment and mutual understanding
- Appreciation for the value of children
- Fosters respect for and acceptance of the total person
- Moral acceptability
How effective are the natural family planning methods for avoiding pregnancy?
When couples understand the methods and are motivated to follow them, NFP is up to 99% successful in spacing or limiting births.
The effectiveness of NFP depends upon the spouses’ following the rules of the method according to their family planning intention (i.e., achieving or limiting pregnancy). Those who are strongly motivated to avoid pregnancy and follow the method-defined rules are very effective in meeting their goal.
Myths and Reality
Myth #1: NFP is just another name for Rhythm.
REALITY: Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an umbrella term for modern, healthy, scientifically accurate, and reliable methods of family planning. It differs from “Rhythm” (or the Calendar Method). Rhythm tried to estimate the time of next ovulation by calculating previous menstrual cycles. Although this approach had sound scientific underpinnings, in practice it often proved inaccurate because of the unique nature of each woman’s menstrual cycle. NFP, by contrast, has been proven scientifically sound in both theory and practice.
NFP is based on scientific research about women’s cycles of fertility. Since the 19th century, doctors have known about the changes in cervical mucus and its relation to fertility. In the 1920s, temperature rules were developed. However, it wasn’t until the 1950s that an educational process was developed to teach the observation and interpretation of these fertility signs.
The NFP methods are: the Basal Body Temperature (BBT) method, which monitors changes in a woman’s temperature when she wakes up each morning; the Ovulation Method (OM), which monitors changes in a woman’s cervical mucus; and the Sympto-Thermal Method (STM), which combines observations of temperature and cervical mucus with other indicators such as changes in the cervix and secondary fertility signs.
Myth #2: NFP can only be used by women with regular cycles.
REALITY: The natural methods do not depend on having regular menstrual cycles; they treat each woman and each cycle as unique. NFP works with menstrual cycles of any length and any degree of irregularity. It can be used during breastfeeding, just before menopause, and in other special circumstances. NFP allows a woman to understand the physical signals her body gives her to tell her when she is most likely to become pregnant. Once she understands this information, she and her spouse can use it according to their family planning intentions.
The natural methods can be used throughout a woman’s reproductive life. These methods are progressive. That is, they monitor the current, day-to-day signs of the woman’s cycle. Instruction in NFP provides couples with information about their bodies that is specific and observable.
When special circumstances do occur, a woman can contact an NFP instructor for additional guidance in interpreting her signs of fertility.
Myth #3: NFP is too complicated to be useful for most people.
REALITY: Anyone who is taught by a certified teacher and motivated to use NFP can do so. The methods are so simple that they have been successfully adapted to suit the needs of cultures all around the world. According to Kambic and Gray (Human Reproduction, 1988), NFP use world wide ranges from 1-35% in developing countries. These authors state that “NFP has a role as an important method of family planning in many countries, irrespective of religion, socio-economic development, and overall level of contraceptive use” (p. 693).
Myth #4: NFP is not a reliable method of family planning.
REALITY: When couples understand the methods and are motivated to follow them, NFP is up to 99% successful in spacing or limiting births.
The effectiveness of NFP depends upon spouses’ following the rules of the method according to their family planning intention (i.e., achieving or limiting pregnancy). Those who are strongly motivated to avoid pregnancy and follow the method-defined rules are very effective in meeting their goal.
(Number of pregnancies among 100 couples in one year.)
Myth #5: Couples who use NFP have less sex than the average American.REALITY: Most people most of the time are not engaged in sexual activity (see table). If couples who practice NFP were to engage in intercourse on all the days when abstinence is not required for spacing births, they would be doing so at a rate almost twice the national average!Average monthly coital frequency among both married and unmarried couples in the United States:
| Age: 18-24 25-34 35-44 44-55 55-67 |
Average frequency: 8 9 8 7 5 |
If wishing to avoid pregnancy, a couple practicing NFP is usually advised to abstain from intercourse and genital contact during the wife’s fertile time. NFP couples can make love no less frequently in each cycle than other couples.
Myth #6: NFP does not allow for sexual “spontaneity.”
REALITY: This depends upon what one means by “spontaneity.”
If by sexual spontaneity one means loving gestures, caresses, kisses, loving words, etc., then NFP does not hinder spontaneity. In fact NFP encourages couples to explore ways to express their love to one another because sexual intercourse is not always available. And the spontaneity with which a couple unites in lovemaking each cycle is something NFP couples find to be very special.
If by “spontaneity” one means only being able to engage in sexual intercourse whenever the desire arises, then NFP does not measure up. But then, respect for your spouse–whose desires may not always be exactly the same as yours at any moment–is also in tension with that kind of “spontaneity.”
Any limitation on “spontaneity” in NFP should be judged in light of the freedom couples gain by not using chemical or barrier methods of contraception. Remember, chemical contraceptives carry heavy baggage in terms of contraindications and side effects.
Myth #7: There is no difference between NFP and artificial methods of contraception.
REALITY: NFP methods are different from and better than artificial contraception because they
- Cooperate with, rather than suppress, a couple’s fertility
- Can be used both to achieve and avoid pregnancy
- Call for shared responsibility and cooperation by husband and wife
- Require spousal communication
- Foster respect for and acceptance of the total person
- Have no harmful side effects
- Are virtually cost free
NFP is unique because it enables its users to work with the body rather than against it. Fertility is viewed as a reality to live, not a problem to be solved.
Myth #8: The Catholic Church wants people to have as many babies as possible.
REALITY: In fact the Church encourages people to be “responsible” stewards over their fertility. In this view of “responsible parenthood” married couples carefully weigh their responsibilities to God, each other, the children they already have, and the world in which they live when making decisions about the number and spacing of children.
Responsible parenthood is lived out within the structures which God has established in human nature. The nature of sexual intercourse, which is both life-giving (pro-creative) and love-giving (unitive), reflects a Divine plan. That is why the Church teaches that couples must not actively intervene to separate their fertility from their bodily union. To do so is to show disrespect for an important gift of the Creator.
Myth #9: Sex is a private decision between two people.
REALITY: Sexual intercourse is not only eminently personal, between a man and a woman, but also has a public and even universal dimension. Human reproduction orients sexual activity to the future of the world. The public consequences of sexual intercourse are illustrated by the miracle of birth, and also through the public devastation wrought by sexually transmitted diseases.
Remember, sexual intercourse radically unites a man and a woman and is the only human act which can worthily bring another person into the world!
Myth #10: The Church does not want couples to have sex for pleasure’s sake.
REALITY: The Church wants married couples to have the best sex possible!
Remember, there is a difference between simply “having sex,” which includes actions directed towards the self, and “making love,” which requires the giving of self to the other. Only in a lifelong, committed, loving relationship, centered in Christ, can couples hope to fully experience the sacrament of life and love, i.e., marriage.
Current studies confirm what the Church has always taught: married sex is more fulfilling and enjoyable than uncommitted sex. People who “use” sex only for their own pleasure end up using other people–and they lose the real joy of sexuality. Unconditional love is what marriage is all about. That love is a real source of joy in the lives of married couples!
The Sympto-Thermal Method involves observation of several signs of fertility that change in response to the hormones of the woman’s menstrual cycle. These observations include changes in cervical mucus, basil body temperature, and changes of the cervix. Hence, the reason it is called the “sympto-thermal” method.
Couple to Couple League
NFP Courses with the Couple to Couple League (CCL) are taught in a classroom setting by a trained married couple in a series of three meetings at monthly intervals. For registration information, please call the NFP Hotline at 303.715.3239 or click on the NFP Schedule. For further information on the Couple to Couple League, please see the CCL website at http://www.denver.ccli.org/
CCL Home Study Option
If necessary, and with your pastor’s approval, this course can also be taken in a home study format over the course of six months. If you are interested in the home study option, please call the Office of Marriage and Family Life at 303-715-3259.
Northwest Family Services
NFP Courses with Northwest Family Services (NWFS) are currently being offered by Carolyn Hochanadel in the Fort Morgan/Eastern area of Colorado. This course is taught through a series of three classes and follow-up meetings. For more information and to register please contact Carolyn at 970-867-5879 (It is best to call in the evenings).
NWFS On-Line Option
In extreme circumstances, and with your pastor’s approval, this course can also be taken in an on-line study format. If you are interested in the on-line course, please call the Office of Marriage and Family Life at 303-715-3259.
Natural Family Planning International
NFPI courses are taught in metro Denver by a trained, married couple in a series of three monthly classroom meetings plus a follow-up. In addition to the Sympto-Thermal Method, NFPI also teaches the Ecological Breastfeeding method of NFP. For registration information, please go to www.nfpidenver.org and/or call Ann and K.L. Berry at 303-758-4442.
Creighton FertilityCare System
The Creighton FertilityCare System is a model of Natural Family Planning that involves an introductory session in group-setting and as many as eight private and individualized follow-ups over the course of a year, based on your personal needs. The method relies on a detailed observation of external cervical mucus as the main indicator of fertility. There are several trained Creighton practitioners in the Archdiocese of Denver who work on an individual basis. For more information contact one of the following practitioners:
Aurora:
Britta Conway, FCPI 303-752-3789
Kathleen Morroni, FCPI 303-471-1308
Terri Vyner, FCP 720-870-3246
Denver:
Christina Coughlan-Watson, FCPI 720-232-4478
Ann Zimmer, FCPI 719-649-3223
Highlands Ranch:
Carrie Keating, FCP 303-471-8624
Littleton:
Caitlin Burnett, FCPI 303-791-9393
Linda Hannon, FCP 303-933-3339
Parker:
Olivia Demsko, FCPI 719-231-6447
To learn more about the Creighton FertilityCare System, please visit their website at: http://www.creightonmodel.com
