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Fertility Awareness Resources -
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For anyone
Fertility awareness and charting is a good practice for any person - single, engaged, or married. It is a practical means to understand the body God has given you. Learning these methods can help you understand better your own body and the bodies of the opposite sex. Many women report that their understanding of their cycles helped them to know when an underlying issue like PCOS or endometriosis was present.
Mercy occasionally offers mother/daughter and father/son events specifically geared towards parents with children approaching or in puberty. (Here you can see flyers for a description.) To register for current programs or to inquire when more will be offered in the near future, contact Mercy FertilityCare.
Pearl and Thistle (run by a Catholic NFP instructor) offers guides and materials, both for girls approaching their first period, and for older girls who have already begun cycles. She has a Cycle Prep course for girls as young as 9, and a Body Literacy course for both boys and girls as young as 8. -
For couples
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is fertility awareness in the context of a couple. It is the all natural way of deciding how many children you will have, and how far apart they will be spaced, that is in keeping with the teaching of the Catholic Church. When done correctly, NFP can be as effective as artificial contraception. For many years, doctors and researchers have been studying a woman’s body to see how her hormones, temperature, and fluids respond to different stages of her monthly cycle. By knowing how a woman’s body works optimally, a couple use that information to determine their own fertility.
NFP is a holistic approach to family planning. Both husband and wife understand their fertility, emotions, and family planning intention (whether to have a baby or not). Its successful use to avoid pregnancy relies upon a couple’s following what they know about the method and one another. Successful use of NFP requires a couple to communicate. In the daily charting of their fertility signs, couples quickly appreciate their shared responsibility for family planning. Husbands are encouraged to “tune into” their wives’ cycles, and both spouses are encouraged to speak openly to each other about their sexual desires and their ideas on family size.
Video (13 min) about different ways couples can keep charts together, and answering "What's the role of the man in all of this?"Types of Natural Family Planning
NFP is an umbrella term for all methods of fertility awareness which take into account the natural rhythms of a couple's fertility and use that information to either achieve or avoid a pregnancy. Nothing is done before, during, or after an act of intercourse to alter its natural potential to create life.
There are four main categories of Natural Family Planning methods, each with its own unique benefits and challenges. Not every method type will be suitable for each couple, and couples may need to switch methods to account for health issues, personality or lifestyle needs, or unsatisfactory experiences with previous methods.OVULATION METHODS
Use a single fertility indicator— cervical fluid— to determine the fertile window for the couple. These methods require no extra devices, generally have minimal ongoing costs, and tend to be great for couples who are confident working with a lot of detail on a single sign.SYMPTO-THERMAL METHODS
Use two indicators— cervical fluid and temperature—to determine the fertile window for the couple. Traditional temperatures can be difficult for shift-workers, parents, or anyone with irregular sleep patterns and may require investment in a specialized thermometer for best efficacy. Couples may appreciate that these methods offer confirmation of fertility from multiple signs.SYMPTO-HORMONAL METHODS
May use a variety of indicators to determine fertility, but always have hormone monitoring as their distinctive feature. These methods are the most rapidly-evolving category and generally require the highest level of financial investments, both upfront and ongoing. Couples may appreciate the objectivity and confidence which comes from hormone measurements, especially when paired with other fertility indicators to confirm ovulation.CALENDAR-BASED METHODS
The classic rhythm method and its more modern cousins can be very simple means of NFP if a client meets certain cycle criteria for regularity and length; however, these types of methods tend to have a higher failure rate due to their inability to assess whether ovulation is actually occurring.
Effects and Effectiveness
Methods of Family Planning and Contraception Comparison Chart
This chart was compiled by Peter Danis, MD, Family Physician, Certified FertilityCare Medical Consultant, and Gavin Puthoff, MD, Ob/Gyn, Certified FertilityCare Medical Consultant 2019. Both are St. Louis area physicians. -
ResourcesThe Archdiocese of St. Louis maintains many resources, including
- Overview of methods
- Find an intro session to a method
- Find an NFP doctor
- Find an NFP provider/instructor
For other relationship/sexuality/healing resources:
Elizabeth Ministry is an international movement designed to offer hope, help, and healing on the intimate issues of life, loss, and love. Their mission is to encourage, educate, and equip people through mentoring, programs, and resources related to relationships, sexuality, and childbearing. The program is Catholic but does ecumenical outreach.
Project Rachel - for healing after an abortion
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