Natural Family Planning

NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING relies on observing and recording various signs of fertility, such as changes in cervical mucus, basal body temperature, and the length of menstrual cycles.Natural Family Planning (NFP), also known as fertility awareness, is a method of birth control that involves understanding and tracking a woman's menstrual cycle to identify fertile periods and either avoid or plan for pregnancy.In the natural family, membership is fixed and definite. Marriage and birth designate certain individuals as members of the family. Some of these (the husband and wife) are primary in the sense that without them there is no family. If they separate the family is extinguished. Others (the children) are secondary.The 2 main types of natural family planning involve: tracking periods to see when you're most fertile and avoiding sex or using condoms on those days (fertility awareness method) breastfeeding your baby for up to 6 months to delay ovulation (lactational amenorrhea method).Natural family planning is a method used to help a couple determine when sexual intercourse can and cannot result in pregnancy. During the menstrual cycle, a number of changes occur in a woman's body. By keeping track of these changes, couples can plan when to have intercourse and when to avoid intercourse, depending on whether they are trying to achieve or avoid pregnancy.During each menstrual cycle, one of a woman's ovaries releases an egg. This process is called ovulation. The egg moves toward the uterus through the fallopian tubes, where fertilization may take place. An unfertilized egg may live for up to 12 hours. The egg will be shed later during the menstrual period if it isn't fertilized. A woman is most likely to become pregnant if sexual intercourse takes place just before or just after ovulation.

Natural Family Planning (NFP) provides information so that you, as a couple, can learn to understand and appreciate your fertility. During each cycle a woman experiences times of fertility and infertility accompanied by specific signs. Natural Family Planning is the practice of observing and charting these fertility signs to determine accurately when a woman is fertile and when she is infertile. When you want to achieve pregnancy, NFP helps you identify the most fertile time. When you want to avoid pregnancy, you abstain from genital contact during the fertile time.Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a method through which a couple may either achieves, avoid or space a pregnancy. It is based on the natural signs and symptoms which occur during a woman's menstrual cycle. By learning to carefully observe and chart these signs, a couple may then apply the appropriate rules based on their family planning intention. Natural Family Planning is based on scientific knowledge while remaining faithful to the Church's teaching on upholding the love and life connection in the marital act.Natural Family Planning (NFP) refers to natural methods used for avoiding or achieving pregnancy which are based on a couple's awareness of the woman's naturally occurring times of fertility and infertility.

Natural Family Planning or Fertility Awareness 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 natures of marriage, NFP can enrich the bond between husband and wife. When couples are taught by competent teachers, understand the methods, and are motivated to follow them, NFP is up to 99% successful in spacing or limiting births.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 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.Natural family planning is a method that teaches you at what time during the month you can have sex without contraception and with a reduced risk of pregnancy. The method is sometimes called fertility awareness. It works by plotting the times of the month when you're fertile and when you're not. You learn how to record fertility signals, such as your body temperature and cervical secretions (fluids or mucus), to identify when it's safer to have sex. Natural family planning is more effective when more than one fertility signal is monitored.

How does natural family planning work?:

Two methods of natural family planning are currently taught. The first is the mucus or ovulation method. In this method, the days just before and just after ovulation are determined by checking the woman's cervical mucus. When a woman is most likely to become pregnant, the cervical mucus is stretchy, clear and slick. The mucus during this time looks and feels much like an uncooked egg white.The second method is called the symptothermal method. With this method, the woman takes her temperature each day with a basal body temperature thermometer and writes it down on a chart. At the time of ovulation, a woman's temperature will rise slightly (about .9°F). The woman also checks the consistency of her cervical mucus like she does with the mucus method. She may also notice other changes, such as pain in the area of the ovaries, bloating, low backache and breast tenderness.In both methods, couples use a chart to keep track of the changes in the woman's body.

How effective are these methods in helping a couple avoid pregnancy?

The Billings Ovulation Method (BOM) is a method which women use to monitor their fertility, by identifying when they are fertile and when they are infertile during each ovarian/menstrual cycle. Users pay attention to the sensation at their vulva, and the appearance of any vaginal discharge. The Billings Ovulation Method does not rely on the presence of ovulation, rather it identifies patterns of potential fertility and obvious infertility within the cycle, whatever its length. This information can be used to achieve or avoid pregnancy during regular or irregular cycles throughout all stages of reproductive life, including breastfeeding, and peri-menopause. Described by the World Organization of the Ovulation Method Billings (WOOMB) as "Natural Fertility Regulation", this method may be used as a form of awareness or natural family planning, as well as a way to monitor gynecological health..

Human reproductive health encompasses the complete physical, mental, and social well-being related to the reproductive system and its functions, including the ability to have a satisfying and safe sex life and the freedom to decide on reproduction.Reproductive health refers to the condition of male and female reproductive systems during all life stages. These systems are made of organs and hormone-producing glands, including the pituitary gland in the brain.Reproductive health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes.Sexual and reproductive health refers to a broad range of services that cover access to contraception, fertility and infertility care, maternal and perinatal health, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), protection from sexual and gender-based violence, and education on safe and healthy.

The Billings Ovulation Method (BOM), a natural fertility awareness method, can help couples achieve pregnancy by learning to recognize and time intercourse around the woman's most fertile days, identified by observing cervical mucus changes.To increase your chances of achieving pregnancy naturally, focus on timing intercourse around ovulation, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and consider taking a prenatal vitamin with folic acid.Before trying to get pregnant, it's a good idea to talk to your doctor to discuss any potential health concerns and ensure you're in good health.Ovulation typically occurs around 14 days before your next period, but it's best to track your cycle using a calendar.The Billings Ovulation Method® allows a couple to recognize when they are fertile—with optimum couple fertility on the Peak day, the last day of the slippery sensation. If they want to become pregnant, they can plan to have sexual intercourse on the fertile days.The Billings method involves observing and tracking changes in your cervical mucus, and using this information to pinpoint ovulation. Ovulation is the time in your menstrual cycle when you're most likely to get pregnant.The Billings Ovulation Method® is based on your body's natural signals of fertility and infertility, so it's drug-free, non-invasive, and doesn't require any devices. With hormonal methods of contraception you're ingesting synthetic hormones that alter your body's natural hormone patterns.

The Billings Ovulation Method (BOM) is a natural family planning method that helps couples avoid pregnancy by identifying fertile and infertile periods based on cervical mucus patterns. By learning to recognize these patterns, couples can choose when to have intercourse to either prevent or achieve pregnancy.To prevent pregnancy, you can choose from various methods, including hormonal contraception like pills or implants, barrier methods like condoms, or long-acting reversible contraception like IUDs.The Billings Ovulation Method (BOM) is a natural family planning method that helps couples understand and manage their fertility by observing cervical mucus changes, allowing them to avoid pregnancy by abstaining from intercourse during fertile periods.The Billings Ovulation Method®(the Billings Method) is a fertility awareness-based method (FABM) of family planning that relies on the observation of patterns of fertility and infertility based on vulvar sensations and appearance of discharges.

HUMAN NATURAL FERTILITY

Natural fertility is the fertility that exists without birth control or other medical interventions. The control is the number of children birthed to the parents and is modified as the number of children reaches the maximum. Natural fertility tends to decrease as a society modernizes.Fertility is mainly determined by the reproductive system, therefore, in order to talk about fertility, it is important to understand how the female reproductive system works.The Billings Ovulation Method (BOM), a natural family planning method, relies on observing cervical mucus changes to identify the fertile period in a woman's cycle, allowing couples to plan for or avoid pregnancy.The Billings ovulation method is a method in which women use their vaginal mucus to determine their fertility. It does not rely on the presence of ovulation, but identifies patterns of potential and obvious infertility within the cycle. Its effectiveness is not very clear.The Billings Ovulation Method®(the Billings Method) is a fertility awareness-based method (FABM) of family planning that relies on the observation of patterns of fertility and infertility based on vulvar sensations and appearance of discharges.The Billings method involves observing and tracking changes in your cervical mucus, and using this information to pinpoint ovulation. Ovulation is the time in your menstrual cycle when you're most likely to get pregnant.The Billings method complements the Shettles method. It says you should time having sex around the look and feel of your cervical mucus. For a girl, the idea is that you have sex at what they call the 'pre-peak stage' before ovulation (thicker and stickier), and then don't have sex again for that cycle.