Natural Family Planning International

“In my 30 years in Brazil, I saw many promising apostolates rise and then fall as they abandoned the charisms of their founders.”—Bishop Karl Jozef Romer, Pontifical Council for the Family, 2002 CCL Convention.
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The History of Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing
To those not familiar with my work in natural family planning (NFP), allow me to introduce myself. In the mid-Sixties, a friend kept urging me to research and write a book on the baby-spacing effects of breastfeeding, and I began that research very systematically in 1966 well before Humanae Vitae. At that time there was a considerable body of research, much of which is listed at this website.

It soon became clear that there were two distinct kinds of breastfeeding—-one kind provided a long time between childbirth and the return of fertility and the other did not. In the former kind, mothers stayed with their babies and let them nurse frequently; in the second kind, mother-baby togetherness and/or the frequency of suckling were curtailed. Despite these differences in nursing patterns, there was no terminology to distinguish adequately the type of breastfeeding that was associated with extended infertility or natural child spacing.

It became clear that the relationship between breastfeeding and the duration of breastfeeding infertility was somehow related to the relationship of two human organisms—-mother and baby. Science already had a name for the interaction of two organisms—-ecology, and in the Sixties the emphasis on “ecology” was constant in the various media. So at that time it seemed logical to coin the term “ecological breastfeeding” for the type of breastfeeding in which there was a natural interaction between mother and baby, the sort still seen in primitive cultures in which mothers practice what we call attachment parenting today. Thus we (my husband was my sounding board in this) coined the term, and it fits.

Ecological breastfeeding is that form of nursing in which the mother fulfills her baby’s needs for frequent suckling and her full-time presence and in which the child’s frequent suckling postpones the return of the mother’s fertility. Eco-breastfeeding (short for ecological breastfeeding) is further defined by the Seven Standards.

In 1969, we began to self-publish my book, Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing, and I included a breastfeeding questionnaire at the back of the book. In late 1971 my husband and I founded the Couple to Couple League. One of the three principal charisms we brought to the League was the concept, the research, and the advocacy of ecological breastfeeding as a form of natural family planning. In 1972 we reported on the survey in which we showed that Pope Paul VI was 100% correct when he wrote in Humanae Vitae:
“God has wisely disposed natural laws and rhythms of fecundity which, of themselves, cause a separation in the succession of births” (n. 11).

The other two charisms we brought to CCL were 1) the covenant theology of sexuality and 2) the sympto-thermal method with all the signs of fertility and several options for determining both ends of the fertile time.

Ecological breastfeeding and the Couple to Couple League

It was my interest in eco-breastfeeding that motivated me to start the Couple to Couple League. The charism we brought to CCL was ecological breastfeeding as a form of natural family planning, not breastfeeding in general. La Leche League was already promoting breastfeeding and we never sought to duplicate the work of others. In addition, no NFP organization at that time taught eco-breastfeeding. Ecological breastfeeding is the only form of breastfeeding that provides any significant spacing of births. It is the most natural form of NFP. Not to teach this in an NFP program is to omit an important part of reality about child spacing. Further, in the age of the Theology of the Body, the failure to promote eco-breastfeeding misses the opportunity to teach this aspect of self-giving love.

Is CCL dropping its former promotion and teaching of the Seven Standards of ecological breastfeeding? Some are concerned that this may be the case. In future blogs, let’s see why some are concerned that promoting ecological breastfeeding as a form of natural family planning may not be a part of the new CCL teaching program soon to be starting up.

Sheila Kippley
NFP International
www.nfpandmore.org
Author: Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood (Sophia, 2005)
Natural Family Planning: Question-Answer Book (e-book
at this website, 2005)

“In my 30 years in Brazil, I saw many promising apostolates rise—and then fall as they abandoned the charisms of their founders.” Bishop Karl Jozef Romer, Pontifical Council for the Family, 2002 CCL Convention.

“Quotation” Background
This quotation from Bishop Karl Jozef Romer stands out for us as one of the memorable events of the year 2002. The bi-annual convention of the Couple to Couple League (CCL) was in Oklahoma that year. Bishop Romer was standing in for Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, who had graced these conventions previously but could not make it to this one. For reasons known only to him, Bishop Romer wanted the leadership of CCL to benefit from his previous experience and spoke as he did.

Background
For those not acquainted with our work, suffice it to say that we, John and Sheila Kippley, founded CCL in 1971, developed the program, raised the funds, and managed or helped to direct the organization for 32 years until December 2003. In that time CCL went from ground zero to having teaching chapters throughout the United States and at least minimally in over 20 countries and recognized as one of the nation’s leading NFP organizations. In 2004, we founded NFP International to carry on our apostolate.

Three principal charisms
Bishop Romer’s remarks got us thinking—what are the charisms we brought to the League? We soon realized there were three main charisms or gifts or insights that we had brought to CCL.
1) Advocacy of ecological breastfeeding as a form of natural family planning.
2) Use of the covenant theology of sexuality to uphold Catholic moral teaching about birth control.
3) Teaching a flexible version of the Sympto-Thermal Method that uses multiple fertility signs and offers several options for determining the limits of the fertile time.
We refer to these characteristics as the Triple Strand approach to Natural Family Planning (NFP).

Since 2005 CCL has spoken about the changes in their upcoming teaching program, but the details were not laid out at first. Gradually, through the 2006 CCL Convention talks, television, internet blogs, Family Foundations, training materials, conversations, responses to questions, etc., we came to understand that CCL is keeping the terminology of the “Triple Strand” approach to NFP, but significantly changing the content of all three charisms that we brought to the original CCL in 1971. What has become public will be discussed in our blog.

Why a blog?
The idea came from our professional web person who strongly encouraged us to blog. We will comment on what is going on in the natural family planning movement and certain aspects of our culture. John will look for opportunities to support Church teaching, especially when it pertains to marriage and sexuality. Sheila hopes to promote breastfeeding, especially eco-breastfeeding (short for ecological breastfeeding), and to offer more support to those mothers who choose to stay home.

We will comment on the changes occurring at CCL, an organization we hope will reconsider the direction it is taking. We fear that if CCL abandons the charisms of its founders, it will meet the fate of other organizations observed by Bishop Romer.

We will probably blog weekly, and we welcome your comments. Please include your full name. We will honor requests to be published anonymously.

John and Sheila Kippley
NFP International
Authors: Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood (Sophia, 2005)
Sex and the Marriage Covenant (Ignatius, 2005)
Natural Family Planning: Question-Answer Book (e-book at this website, 2005)