Today there are many options available for using natural family planning…from apps to the teaching of all options to the teaching of temperature-only to the teaching of mucus-only. We rarely receive calls for advice on NFP. The few who call say they are using NFP but do not know what is going on in their cycle. Then we learn they were using only one sign because that is all they learned. They are dismayed that they were not taught the temperature sign. The effectiveness of this sign for the start of Phase 3 (post-ovulation infertility) has been proved to be as effective as sterilization. Yet many Catholic couples are completely unaware of this fact. (Analysis of Dr. Christopher Tietze of the Population Council)
We are often disappointed when Church employees promote a mucus-only approach. Such persons are not providing the other fertility signs nor are they teaching God’s plan for spacing babies via the correct type of breastfeeding. What follows is adopted from a letter sent to a correspondent.
You need to understand that the NaPro Technology is very good for women with such a serious case of infertility that it can be treated only with surgery. That is, it is a moral alternative to in vitro fertilization and artificial reproductive technology. It is, however, a last step that should be taken only after the couple has tried to improve their fertility with nutrition and improved fertility awareness. Marilyn Shannon’s book, Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition, is an excellent source of information about fertility-related nutrition. Sometimes the solution is as simple as taking a guaifenesin supplement – it liquifies both bronchial and cervical mucus.
Part of the usual workup for using NaPro Technology is to take the Creighton Model course on fertility awareness. While this may be helpful for Dr. Hilgers’ research, we don’t think it is a good form of natural family planning for ordinary couples for three reasons. 1) It fails to teach the temperature sign; 2) it fails to teach ecological breastfeeding; and 3) It fails to teach standard Catholic sexual marital morality regarding the temptations faced by couples practicing abstinence during the fertile time. And despite these significant omissions, it is expensive to take the whole Creighton Model course and follow-ups.
I invite you to make inquirers aware of Natural Family Planning International and its Home Study Course at www.nfpandmore.org.
John F. Kippley
Natural Family Planning: The Complete Approach