What is Natural Family Planning (NFP)?

by Bobbi

Natural Family Planing, known as NFP, is the method of achieving or avoiding pregnancy through informed awareness of a woman’s fertility.

What are the benefits?

NFP is completely natural, healthy, medically safe, low cost, highly effective and morally acceptable. Couples who use NFP also report that their relationships and marriages have been strengthened.

How does NFP work?

Science had shown us that during a woman’s menstrual cycle there are days when she is naturally fertile – when sexual relations could result in a pregnancy – and days when she is naturally infertile. A woman can achieve or avoid pregnancy by having or avoiding sexual relations during her fertile time.

How does a woman know when she is fertile and infertile?

There are a number of NFP methods but I’ve found the two most popular to be the Sympto-Thermal Method. Using this method, a woman observes the changes in her waking temperature and changes in the normal discharge of her cervical mucus. Added signs of fertility include changes in her cervix and a feeling called "ovulation pain".

At the beginning of a woman’s menstrual cycle she has her period. Following her period, there will typically be several "dry days" – no menstruation and no mucus. Then her flow of cervical mucus will start in a small way days before she ovulates (the discharge will usually be thick and/or sticky). This is a very positive sign that her fertile time has begun. The water content in the mucus increases making it more clear and stretchy. About the time she ovulates, her mucus may be abundant and have the consistency similar to raw egg whites. After ovulation the mucus normally dries up and disappears.

Coinciding with the cervical mucus changes, a woman’s waking temperature is lower before ovulation and rises slightly but distinctly after ovulation. Once her temperature has been elevated for several days and her mucus has been disappearing, it is a positive sign that she is no longer fertile.

How long do the days last? How long would a couple have to abstain?

It depends on the woman’s cycle. Some couple have only a week of abstinence per cycle and most couples will not have more than 12 or 14 day periods of abstinence. That may seem a long time at first but with the grace of God that time changes from a drawback to an advantage in strengthening a couple’s relationship and marriage.

What if a woman has irregular cycles?

Unlike the outdated "Rhythm" or "Calendar Method", modern NFP takes into account that all women have occasional irregular cycles. Even women with chronically irregular cycles may use NFP effectively. There are also several healthy actions a woman can take to help her cycles become more regular. I had very irregular cycles when I began using NFP and had trouble conceiving. I found excellent help in the book Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition by Marilyn Shannon. (Available through the Couple to Couple League at http://www.ccli.org.or Amazon.com) I followed the advice given and was able to regulate my cycle and we conceived our first child. I highly recommend it to others with cycle irregularities.

NFP sounds complicated and time consuming! Is it?

No. When you show a child how to tie his shoe for the first time it seems like a daunting task to him. Yet for all of us and eventually for the child it becomes second nature. Similar to that, NFP sounds complicated but once you get it down it becomes perfectly natural and easy. It’s not time consuming for it only takes a woman less than a minute to take her morning temp, if she uses a digital thermometer. During the day it only takes a few moments to become aware of her cervical mucus. Recording the temp and mucus change is simple and it will give a husband and wife an accurate account of her fertility.

How effective is NFP? I knew of someone using NFP who had a surprise pregnancy.

According to the Couple to Couple League International, "Numerous studies including one by the US Government have shown that the Sympto-Thermal Method of NFP can be used at the 99% level of effectiveness for avoiding pregnancy. That’s equal to the birth control Pill and better than all the barrier methods." (Quote from CCL’s "NFP: Safe, Healthy, Effective" pamphlet.)

This statement holds true when a couple carefully records and interprets her fertility signs as learned in a CCL class. It must be followed accurately to work. Consider a woman who is on the Pill. If she forgets to take her pill a day or two then "chances it" by having sex it can’t really be considered a "surprise pregnancy" because she didn’t follow the directions of the Pill properly. Likewise, if a couple does not accurately record the signs or they "chance it" by having sex during a fertile time and then they get pregnant, it’s not much of a surprise. That is why it is important to learn NFP properly. Its effectiveness relies on the couple knowing how to use it properly.

Isn’t NFP just a Catholic form of birth control?

No. The Church teaches that a couple needs a serious reason to avoid or postpone pregnancy in order to make the use of NFP morally acceptable.

Pope Paul VI used these terms in Humanae Vitae when describing the conditions needed for the moral use of NFP: "grave motives" (HV, 10), "serious motives…reasons which appear to be honest and serious…plausible reasons…just motives." (HV, 16) The Catechism teaches, "A particular aspect of this responsibility concerns the regulation of procreation. For just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births of their children. It is their duty to make certain that their desire is not motivated by selfishness but is in conformity with the generosity appropriate to responsible parenthood. Moreover, they should conform their behavior to the objective criteria of morality." (CC, 2368).

The same teaching of the Church that has so adamantly condemned the use of unnatural methods of birth control also explicitly approves the use of Natural Family Planning when there is a sufficiently serious reason to avoid or postpone pregnancy. "Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self- observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality. These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom." (CC, 2370)

A couple must seriously and prayerfully consider why they are postponing or avoiding having another child. Again, prayer, sacramental grace, generosity and constant surrender to God’s will is paramount to knowing God’s will for a family and to avoid abusing NFP.

If NFP and artificial birth control both do the same thing – avoid pregnancy – why is one morally okay and not the other?

There is an essential difference between NFP and birth control. NFP makes use of the natural functions that God made in a woman’s body. She was meant to be fertile and infertile on different days of her cycle and a couple respects that fact by refraining from sex during her fertile times. With artificial contraception a couple is refusing to refrain at all. They subvert a woman’s natural cycle in order to enjoy the pleasure of sex and prevent new life from forming. Think of it this way: There are two women who would like to lose weight. The first woman diets and exercises while the other eats whatever she wants and then makes herself throw up after every meal. The first woman is respecting the natural purpose and effects of eating. The second one is abusing food by enjoying the pleasure of eating but in a disordered fashion, preventing the natural effect of food. In this example we can see the difference of respecting an act and perverting an act while still enjoying its pleasure.

Secondly, an end does not justify the means. Even if a couple has an excellent reason to avoid pregnancy they cannot do something evil in order to gain a needed outcome. If a man were to murder an elderly woman and steal all her money in order to give a big donation to a charitable organization his means of getting the money could never be justified, therefore making the act wrong. He needs to find a moral way to earn the money for the charity.

How has NFP affected you, as a wife?

When I was in my early twenties I disagreed with the church about birth control. However, after my conversion I slowly started learning more about the Catholic Church and its teachings. As I grew stronger in my relationship with Christ the wisdom of the Church started to make more sense to me. By the time I met Brian I was 100% convinced about the Church’s teaching regarding the proper use of sex within marriage. Thankfully, Brian was just as convinced and committed. Although putting it in practice would be a separate challenge.

When Brian and I were first married we didn’t have medical insurance since Brian just started a new job. We used NFP for the first few months until our coverage kicked in. Being newlyweds it was sometimes extremely difficult to abstain but we did it and we’re still alive to talk about it! After the birth of our daughter we again used NFP and have found that it has enhanced the times when we have marital relations. Periodic abstinence keeps that aspect of your relationship fresh and exciting (sort of the honeymoon effect). Plus during the abstinence periods you learn how to show your love in non-sexual ways. Your friendship deepens and you’re able to fall in love with your spouse once more as you see again and again why you married him/her in the first place.

Plus, speaking as a wife, nothing is quite as attractive to me than a holy man of God who loves me and never wants me to take any kind of birth control that would damage both my body and my immortal soul. His love for me is shown each time he controls his own passion and holds me close without "expecting" sex. I love Brian even more because our relationship isn’t just physical, we’re truly best friends who enjoy one another and have fun together. I love Brian more because he is a shining example to my daughter of the kind of man she should marry (if God calls her to that vocation.) And he will be a shining example to my (future) sons of how a man of God is supposed to treat and care for women.

Besides coming closer to my husband, using NFP has helped me come closer to God. It takes prayer and a life of grace to live chastely, whether you are married or single. Because I love God and I love my husband I don’t want to see, hear, think, or do anything that will jeopardize the purity I am to be living and the love I share with my husband. Using NFP helps me to control my passions and avoid near occasions of sin. Since none of this can be done alone I must rely on prayer and God’s grace through the Sacraments. I look to our Blessed Mother for strength, particularly when I feel the weakest. I have learned that I am not my own but God’s and that He is in control of my life. When I am weakest, He is strong and strengthens me.

How has NFP affected your husband?

You can read Brian’s thoughts in his article "A Husband’s Reflection on NFP".

How can I find out more about NFP? How can I learn to use it in my marriage?

The best way to learn NFP is to attend NFP classes. They are usually available through churches, hospitals, and you local CCL chapter. (You can contact CCL to find the local chapter near you.) If you are unable to attend a class CCL also has a home study class available. Since Brian and I were separated by 400 miles during our courtship and engagement we took the home study class. When questions arose we contacted CCL and they helped us.

I would highly recommend getting more information about NFP from the Couple to Couple League (CCL). They do excellent work in educating and promoting the use of NFP. You can reach them online at http://www.ccli.org or you can call them at (513) 471-2000.

One last note

For all of you who are using contraception, I beg of you to rethink your actions. Pray and ask God to help you make a clean break. Artificial contraception is not only damaging to your body but to your soul and your marriage. I know it is not an easy thing to do and it may seem impossible but God will give you and your spouse the strength to do it. God does not want to see you living a lie anymore. He wants to free you so that you and your spouse may enjoy the true blessing of living the sacredness and beauty of sex as He intended it. Trust in Him and He will see you through.