MCV Lesson #9 Outline – Planning Your Family God’s Way
Natural Family Planning
In short Natural Family Planning is the use of periodic abstinence in conjunction
with the natural periods of infertility in the woman’s cycle, to avoid pregnancy.
By definition Natural Family Planning is… The controlling of human conception
by restricting the marital act to the infertile periods of the wife. This practice is
based on the theory that the period of a woman’s ovulation can be determined
with considerable accuracy. A variety of methods, or their combination, are used
to determine the period of ovulation. From the moral standpoint, natural family
planning is permissible. As stated by Pope Paul VI: “If there are serious motives
to space out births, which derive from external conditions, it is licit to take
account of the natural rhythms inherent in the generative functions” (Humanae
Vitae, II, 16).
The Church teaches that… God designed marriage as an "intimate
partnership of life and love" (see Gaudium et spes, no. 48). In God's
design, marriage is a unique union of one man with one woman "for the
whole of life" (see Canon 1055, The Code of Canon Law). Marriage is
oriented to the good of the spouses and to the creation and nurture of new
human life (see Gaudium et spes, no. 48). Making decisions therefore,
about when and how many children to have in marriage is a sacred
responsibility that God has entrusted to husband and wife. This is the
foundation of what the Church calls, "Responsible Parenthood"--the call to
discern God's will for your marriage while respecting His design for life
and love.
The Catholic Church supports the methods of Natural Family Planning
(NFP) because they respect God's design for married love. In fact, NFP
represents the only authentic approach to family planning available to
husbands and wives because these methods can be used to both attempt or
avoid pregnancy. When learning about NFP, it is important to know that:
Natural Family Planning 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
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MCV Lesson #9 Outline – Planning Your Family God’s Way
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.
(Standards for
Diocesan Natural Family Planning Ministry, p. 23)
The term “Natural”
It is important to clarify the term natural in relationship to the concept of natural
family planning and as opposed to what is artificial.
By definition “natural” means… 1existing in or caused by nature; not made or
caused by humankind: (Etym. from Latin naturalis, from natura ‘birth, nature,
quality’)
The term natural speaks of the phenomena of the physical world and the physical
force regarded as causing and regulating these phenomena. Therefore when we
speak of nature we are referring to… the nature of a thing or things, and the
forces, laws, and order that govern them. This is opposed to what has been
produced by the art of man.
By this definition man made products… i.e. medicines, drugs and other kinds of
chemical reproductions and processes though they mimic natural materials
would not be considered natural.
Natural Rhythms
Another aspect for consideration in relationship to what is natural would be the
concept of a natural rhythm. This concept is clearly identified by the writers of
Scripture in the Genesis account. In this account the Scripture writers give
witness to and reflect on the orderliness of creation.
The Genesis account of creation is not and has never been intended to be a
scientific account of how the world came to be. It is rather man’s reflection on the
order that is present. As Pope Benedict XXVI describes it…
“The fundamental truth that the stories of Genesis reveals is that the
world is not a collection of contrasting forces, but has as its origin and
stability in the Logos, the eternal reason of God, who continues to sustain
the universe. “ There is a design of this world that is born from this
Reason, the Spirit Creator; believing that this is at the basis of all things
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MCV Lesson #9 Outline – Planning Your Family God’s Way
illuminates every aspect of life...”
“So the Scripture tells us that the origin of the world is not irrational or
out of necessity, but reason, and love and freedom.”
To appreciate the truth of this view all one needs to do is look to the creation
accounts that existed in the pagan cultures surrounding the Jewish people. All of
these cultures identify the world as springing from the generation of gods, divine
sexual activity, power struggles, murder accident and whim. They give witness to
a chaos that exists as a result of mans struggle to dominate the natural world
around him. Instead of embracing the wonder, beauty and truth of this world
man struggles against it.
The God of the Jewish people described in Genesis creates from nothing (ex
nihilo), He is eternal, and He creates through His eternal Reason – His Word –
and His creativity has order, design, uniqueness, and purpose. The Genesis
account emphasizes a loving God who freely created all things good, and makes
man in His image and likeness, endowing him with a unique and immortal soul.
In this account man is one with the natural world and we see in his life (before
original sin) a harmony, and balance with the order, beauty, and truth that
surrounds him.
When we look closely at the creation account we see not only order, design,
uniqueness, and purpose. We also see that there is a natural rhythm to this order,
and design. This rhythm speaks to ultimate truths of what is good, beautiful,
orderly and holy.
In fact we can witness this rhythm in the natural world today. Even when we look
at the chaos that results from natural phenomena like storms we witness an order
and design that is predictable that precedes the chaos. The order, design, and
natural rhythm that we witness in creation is something that science relies on to
predict various outcomes. In fact the case can be made that it is man who has
learned to turn order, design and the rhythm of nature into chaos. All one has to
do is look to the various implements of war to see evidence of this.
So when we speak of natural rhythms, and particularly those natural rhythms,
which, exists within the human male and female, we are speaking of rhythms that
result from the natural created world, which has its own order, design,
uniqueness, purpose, and most especially goodness. A “goodness” put in place by
a God who creates out of nothing but love, and who loves His creation.
How does Natural Family Planning work?
Uses biological signs in conjunction with the cyclic rhythm of the menstrual cycle
to determine fertile and infertile periods of a woman’s cycle.
Is it effective?
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MCV Lesson #9 Outline – Planning Your Family God’s Way
When used according to the process directed the Ovulation Method and the
Sympto-thermo method are 98-99% effective in avoiding pregnancy. It is an issue
of discipline
NFP - Scientific Principles
General Overview of the Female Reproductive System
The female reproductive system is designed to carry out several functions. It
produces the female egg cells necessary for reproduction, called the ova or
oocytes. The system is designed to transport the ova to the site of fertilization.
Conception, the fertilization of an egg by a sperm, normally occurs in the
fallopian tubes. The next step for the fertilized egg is to implant into the walls of
the uterus, beginning the initial stages of pregnancy. If fertilization and/or
implantation does not take place, the system is designed to menstruate (the
monthly shedding of the uterine lining). In addition, the female reproductive
system produces female sex hormones that maintain the reproductive cycle.
Fertility changes with age. Both males and females become fertile in their teens
following puberty. For girls, the beginning of their reproductive years is marked
by the onset of ovulation and menstruation. It is commonly understood that after
menopause women are no longer able to become pregnant. Generally,
reproductive potential decreases as women get older, and fertility can be
expected to end 5 to 10 years before menopause.
In today’s society, age-related infertility is becoming more common because, for a
variety of reasons, many women wait until their 30s to begin their families. Even
though women today are healthier and taking better care of themselves than ever
before, improved health in later life does not offset the natural age-related decline
in fertility. As women age, fertility declines due to normal, age-related changes
that occur in the ovaries. Unlike men, who continue to produce sperm throughout
their lives, a woman is born with all the egg-containing follicles in her ovaries
that she will ever have. At birth there are about one million follicles. By puberty
that number will have dropped to about 300,000. Of the follicles remaining at
puberty, only about 300 will be ovulated during the reproductive years. The
majority of follicles are not used up by ovulation, but through an ongoing gradual
process of loss called atresia. Atresia is a degenerative process that occurs
regardless of whether you are pregnant, have normal menstrual cycles, use birth
control, or are undergoing infertility treatment. Smokers appear to experience
menopause about 1 year earlier than non-smokers.
Ovulation and Other Factors
A woman ovulates only one time per fertility cycle. Cervical mucus is the most
accurate, and definitive sign of a woman’s fertility. It must be present for
conception to take place. A woman can detect this cervical mucus without any
special devices. The ovum can live a maximum of 12-24 hours once released.
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MCV Lesson #9 Outline – Planning Your Family God’s Way
Sperm can survive in a woman’s body a maximum of 3-5 days when and with the
most fertile mucus is present.
Primary Signs of Fertility
There are two - Basal body temperature and cervical mucus.
Basal Body Temperature is the lowest temperature attained by the body during
rest (usually during sleep). It is generally measured immediately after awakening
and before any physical activity has been undertaken, although the temperature
measured at that time is somewhat higher than the true basal body
temperature. In women, ovulation causes an increase of one-half to one degree
Fahrenheit (one-quarter to one-half degree Celsius) in basal body temperature
(BBT) and therefore monitoring of BBTs is one way of estimating the day of
ovulation. The tendency of a woman to have lower temperatures before ovulation,
and higher temperatures afterwards, is known as a biphasic pattern. Charting of
this pattern may be used as a component of fertility awareness.
Cervical mucus.
Cervical mucus changes are monitored for determining when ovulation occurs
through the Cervical Mucus Monitoring Test. As a females cycle progresses,
cervical mucus increases in volume and changes texture. These changes in the
consistency of the cervical mucus are due to hormonal fluctuations. A woman is
considered most fertile when the mucus becomes clear, slippery, and stretchy.
Many women compare mucus at this stage to raw egg whites.
Other Means of Determining Fertility
Fertility monitors.
Fertility monitors are electronic devices which may use various methods to assist
the user with fertility awareness. A fertility monitor may analyze changes in
hormone levels in urine, basal body temperature, electrical resistance of saliva
and vaginal fluids, or a combination of some or all of these methods.
These devices are often used to assist in pregnancy achievement.
Mucus-only Methods
There are two well-known mucus-only methods.
The Billings Ovulation Method and the Sympto-Thermal Method
The Billings Ovulation Method measures the changing sensations at the
opening of the vagina along with vaginal discharge.
The Billings Ovulation Method™ is a natural method of fertility management. It
teaches you to recognize your body's natural signal of fertility - cervical mucus.
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MCV Lesson #9 Outline – Planning Your Family God’s Way
Your reproductive system is wonderfully complex, yet the signals it gives you
can be quite simple, helping you identify the fertile and infertile times in your
cycles. You may have noticed different types of discharge throughout your
menstrual cycle. The sensation that this discharge produces outside the vaginal
opening also changes. This is because your cervix produces different types of
mucus in response to changing hormone levels. Once you're familiar with these
changes you'll be able to identify your patterns of fertility and infertility in your
cycle.
Cervical mucus is the most reliable signal of fertility. Over 50 years of scientific
research have shown this.
The Billings Ovulation Method™ has a number of key advantages over other
methods of fertility management:
•
•
•
A unique feature of the method is being able to recognize when you're
infertile, as well as when you're fertile. So you can be confident in
knowing if you're infertile or fertile on any particular day, and decide
when to have sex depending on whether you want to achieve or avoid
pregnancy.
When you decide the time is right to have a baby, the method can be
used to achieve pregnancy. Knowing how to identify your fertile time
and your Peak of fertility optimizes your chances of conceiving.
It helps you safeguard your reproductive health. Once you learn to
recognize what is normal for you in your menstrual cycle and patterns
of cervical mucus, you'll be able to identify what isn’t. If you notice
irregularities, such as abnormal bleeding or an unusual pattern of
discharge, you'll know to get them investigated.
The Creighton Model Fertility Care System is a standardized modification
of the Billings Ovulation Method. This method is used in conjunction with
NaProTechnology to restore fertility naturally.
The Creighton Model (CrMS) is also the basis for the new women's health
science, NaProTECHNOLOGY (natural procreative technology).
The Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System (CrMS) is a standardized
modification of the Billings Ovulation Method. It is built on research, education
and service (the “triangle of support” for the CrMS user) and is an integrated
educational system designed to assure the highest quality service delivery
possible for the FertilityCare™ Educator, Practitioner and the client couple.
Research leading to the development of the Creighton Model System began in
1976 and the system was first fully described in 1980. The research on this
system has continued up until the present day and it has an extraordinary
degree of scientific understanding and validity.
In the CrMS, fertility is observed as a part of health, not disease. It is a system
that is specifically not a natural contraceptive. Rather, it is a true method of
family planning … a method that can be used in two ways, to achieve, as well
as, avoid pregnancy. These principles make this system distinctly different
from contraception, artificial or natural.
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MCV Lesson #9 Outline – Planning Your Family God’s Way
The CrMS is based upon a couple’s knowledge and understanding of their
naturally-occurring phases of fertility and infertility. Through this
understanding, the couple is able to make decisions (choices) regarding the
achievement or avoidance of pregnancy. This system provides information
which deals with the complete dimension of the procreative ability. In addition,
it provides women the added benefit of being able to monitor and maintain their
procreative and gynecologic health over a lifetime. It is truly the only family
planning system, which has networked family planning with gynecologic and
procreative healthcare and health maintenance. The teachers of the CrMS are
trained allied health professionals and specifically-trained physicians have been
educated to incorporate the CrMS into their medical practice.
The Sympto-Thermal Method.
Involves observing and charting regular changes in a woman’s cervical
mucus and body temperature as well as other physical signs, The signs
provide a cross-check to insure reliability.
The sympto-thermal method of natural birth control involves determining the
few days out of a woman's menstrual cycles when conception can occur, and
then avoiding sexual intercourse on those days. This method involves
determining this fertile time in two ways: based on a woman's basal body
temperature (it rises after ovulation) and by recording other fertility cues (such
as mood and cervical secretions). The name "sympto-thermal" method, comes
from body cues (i.e. symptoms) and a woman's temperature (i.e. thermal or
thermometer).
How It Works: The Thermo Part
The sympto-thermal method requires that a woman take her temperature every
morning before she gets out of bed and record the reading. Depending on where
she is in her menstrual cycle, there will be slight variations in her temperature.
These variations are most easily measured with a special thermometer that has
a range of only a few degrees, known as a basal thermometer. Before ovulation,
the temperature is likely to be between 97.2 and 97.4 degrees F. After ovulation,
it will rise by at least 0.5 degrees and is often above 98 degrees F. When the
temperature stays elevated for at least three days, a woman may assume she
has already ovulated. Intercourse for the rest of the cycle will not result in
pregnancy. To determine the infertile time before ovulation, a woman needs to
look at her pattern of previous cycles. Her last "safe"day is one week before the
earliest recorded day of temperaturerise, or 5 days after the first day of her
period.
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MCV Lesson #9 Outline – Planning Your Family God’s Way
How It Works: The Sympto Part
By recording other cyclic symptoms, in addition to basal temperatures, the
infertile time before ovulation can be more accurately predicted (see Ovulation
Method). Cervical mucus and firmness, mid-cycle cramping, breast sensitivity,
and mood swings are all symptoms which give insight into the progression of a
woman's cycle. With careful monitoring, it is not difficult to predict your fertile
period, when intercourse is to be avoided. A blank NFP chart for recording these
changes is available to view, download, or print.
Intercourse during the time before ovulation is less safe than the time after
ovulation because sperm have been known to live up to six days. For this
reason, some couples choose to have sex only after the fertile period. This
practice, known as the post-ovulatory temperature method, is the most effective
of all natural methods, with a failure rate of only 1% among perfect users.
NFP vs. Contraception
There are physical differences...
Hormonal methods of birth control, suppress ovulation, impede sperm
migration, or thin the endometrium (endometrial lining) making it hostile to the
new embryo. IUD’s work as abortifacients (a drug or device that cause an
abortion to occur).
There are many side effects especially in a healthy body to any kind of
adjustment of hormonal levels in a person’s body. People who need
hormones because they lack them also have to deal with the side affects as
well. Additionally inserting or using devices (IUD, condoms and the like)
present the opportunity to cause potential harm to an otherwise healthy
system. Some of the side affects are minor but some can be life threatening
(carcinogens and HIV), unfortunately there is no sure way to predict who
will have what outcome.
Additionally, there is an underlying attitude among those who favor
contraception that fertility as a disease and inhibits what occurs naturally.
This is backward and upside down thinking. In a healthy fertility system
all things work to aid in a pregnancy. Pregnancy and an eventual child are
the consequence of good fertile health.
Contraceptive drugs and devices alter the sex act through the use of artificial
hormones or barriers.
NFP allows the natural fertility to play itself out each month and the
couple work in harmony with their natural system and rhythms. There is
no interference with the natural cycle.
Contraceptives all have physical side effects (blood clots, cancer risks and bone
density).
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MCV Lesson #9 Outline – Planning Your Family God’s Way
NFP has no side effects whatsoever.
Emotional Differences…
With contraception the woman becomes an object of pleasure rather than a
person to be respected and dignified. This is highlighted by attitudes that say… “I
don’t want to wait” or ”I want sex now.” As if the woman is some commodity
available for mans use when he is ready. These attitudes are rooted in the view
that I want the pleasure but not the natural consequences of this act.
With NFP respect flourishes with communication and permission. I
respect you and love you enough to wait. For the woman there is no “burn
out” from always having to be available. Men are always ready and
interested. In this kind of approach the woman does not have to set time
aside to repose (rest, recharge, instill harmony)… something she needs.
Spiritual Differences
Contraception places conditions on love (I love having sex with you but I do not
love the fact that you could become pregnant)
Our fertility is part of our identity, with contraception we reject that part
of the person. At the moment of closest union the couple establishes a
barrier emotionally and spiritually.
NFP says I love you completely and unconditionally - I love every part of
you including your fertility and I hold nothing back. Sexual union is a
renewal of the marriage covenant - a total and complete gift of self.
With contraception sexual union begins to lose its unitive meaning and the sexual
union begins to lose/change its procreative meaning. This happens because
contraception rejects the procreative power. Rejecting the procreative power
withholds a large part of the unitive power.
NFP does not change the meaning of the sexual union, it does not block
God from the sexual embrace. If God wanted to he could create a life at the
infertile time, however God would not do this because he is a God who
obeys his own laws.
Arguments Against NFP
1. No different than contraception.
They share the same objective to regulate/prevent conception. Contraception
demands sex on its own terms, whenever the mood strikes. There is no sacrifice
on the part of the couple. NFP requires sacrificial love, a love based in selfless
discipline for the greater good of the marriage.
2. NFP is not spontaneous… it is not natural to abstain.
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MCV Lesson #9 Outline – Planning Your Family God’s Way
How spontaneous is a condom, a diaphragm or a pill? Intention is never
spontaneous. A woman is used, as she always has to be available while at the
same time having to take practically all of the responsibility for avoiding a
pregnancy.
3. Contraception is easy and convenient.
Ironically the worthwhile things in life are never easy and when they become easy
they lose their significance and meaning.
4. NFP is not effective - it does not work.
Scientifically proven to be 98-99% effective to postpone or avoid a pregnancy…
This has been identified in several worldwide studies, and it is the result of over
50 years or research.
5. NFP can be abused - used for the wrong reasons.
There is a built in mechanism to minimize and prevent this. For every sexual act a
couple has to ask themselves “why are we doing this?” If they don’t have a good
reason to abstain, they will probably not abstain in the fertile time either.
Pregnancy with NFP
NFP is also used to consciously conceive a child.
A couple actively cooperates with God as a “co-creator” in bringing a new life into
the world. Participation in the wonder and awe of God. A baby is always a gift.
The couple is never in the “fog” about when a pregnancy happened. It can never
be considered an “accident” or a “mistake”. A baby is never “unplanned” as is the
case with a couple using contraception.
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