NFP Awareness Week
6
Good for the Body,
#iuseNFP
because fertility is not a disease.
Who can use NFP?
What is NFP? Natural Family Planning (NFP) 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.
Any married couple can use NFP! A woman need not have "regular" cycles. NFP education helps couples to fully understand their combined fertility, thereby helping them to either achieve or avoid a pregnancy. The key to the successful use of NFP is cooperation and communication between husband and wife--a shared commitment. NFP is unique among methods of family planning because it enables its users to work with the body rather than against it. Fertility is viewed as a beautiful part of life, not a problem to be solved. (See article below to learn how even SINGLE women can benefit from NFP!)
How Effective is it?
When couples understand the methods and are motivated to follow them, NFP is up to 99% successful in spacing or limiting births.
Isn’t NFP just the old Rhythm method? NFP is not "Rhythm." The Rhythm (or Calendar) method was developed in the 1930s. It was based on the theory that the time of next ovulation could be determined by calculating previous menstrual cycles. This method often proved inaccurate because of the unique nature of each woman's menstrual cycle: some women have very irregular cycles and almost all women have a cycle of unusual length once in a while. On the other hand, NFP methods are progressive. That is, they are based on progressive, day-to-day observations of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of the menstrual cycle. NFP methods take advantage of the changes associated with ovulation, treating each cycle as unique.
NaProTechnology: Unleashing the Power in a Woman's Cycle
In his ground-breaking book, Dr. Thomas Hilgers shares the successful results of thirty years of scientific research and application of the natural family planning model applied to women's healthcare. NFP is not just for married women anymore! NaProTechnology aims at caring for the woman and actually solving the problems she is experiencing. Dr. Hilgers asks the reader, “Are you one of the many women (between 12 and 50 years of age) who has been to your obstetrician/ gynecologist with recurrent ovarian cysts, menstrual cramps, long and irregular cycles, irregular bleeding, Polycystic ovarian disease and/ or other conditions related to menstrual and fertility cycles? Has your doctor given you birth control pills to treat your symptoms? Have you felt frustrated after that because the doctor did not actually do any testing to find out what the cause of the problem was? Did you feel like you had only received a Band-Aid?” “Are you a woman who has infertility problems and frustration with referring you to IVF* without trying to find out what caused the infertility?” “Are you a woman who experiences significant mood swings, premenstrual syndrome or just a feeling that your hormones are "all wacked out"? Did your doctor listen to your concerns or just prescribe either birth control pills, antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications without evaluating your hormones or doing anything to find out what was wrong?” “Maybe you experienced post-partum depression only to be treated with anti-depressants which are slow to work, make you feel drugged and never return you to normal. And yet you were never told about a simple hormone therapy that brings rapid relief in nearly 95% of cases!” Dr. Hilgers explains that so many women with these and other complaints related to menstrual and fertility cycles have felt dissatisfied or frustrated or even abandoned when trying to seek help. “NaProTECHNOLOGY uses the CREIGHTON MODEL FertilityCare System and it #iuseNFP is a science that actually listens to women. Instead of suppressing and destroying, it works cooperatively with a woman's cycle. It is this that allows this new science to unleash the power that exists in a woman's cycle. This power is one of knowledge, understanding and medical application.” It approaches problem solving by looking for the underlying problem. It approaches patients by listening to them! It approaches treatment by working toward eliminating the cause of the disease which is creating the symptoms. This book is a MUST for EVERY woman! Find out more at unleashingthepower.info * IVF is immoral for several reasons: It undermines the meaning of sex; it violates the exclusivity of the couple’s marriage covenant; and it manufactures life in a laboratory as if it were a commodity, when it should be the result of human love.
because I like my breakfast withtout carcinogens July, 2015 w The Courier
In NFP both spouses are taught to understand the nature of fertility and work with it, either to plan a pregnancy or to avoid a pregnancy. Couples who use NFP soon learn that they have a shared responsibility for family planning. Husbands are encouraged to "tune into" their wives' cycles and both spouses are encouraged to speak openly and frankly about their sexual desires and their ideas on family size. Other benefits include • Low cost • No harmful side effects • Effectiveness for achieving, spacing, or limiting pregnancy • Can be used throughout the reproductive life cycle • Marriage enrichment and mutual understanding • Appreciation for the value of children • Fosters respect for and acceptance of the total person • Moral acceptability
The best way to learn NFP is from a qualified instructor-- that is, one who is certified from an NFP teacher training program. Although medical professionals are gradually learning more about NFP and becoming more supportive of patients who wish to use it, they are not often trained to teach NFP. Visit http:// www.dow.org/Departments/Life-MarriageFamily/Natural-Family-Planning for a listing of instructors in the Diocese.
Does the Church expect us to have as many children as we possibly can? No, the Church encourages people to be "responsible" stewards over their fertility. In this view of "responsible parenthood" married couples carefully weigh their responsibilities to God, each other, the children they already have, and the world in which they live when making decisions about the number and spacing of children.
because my body is not broken.
Isn't NFP just Catholic Birth Control?
No, NFP methods are different from and better than contraception because they: - cooperate with, rather than suppress, a couple's fertility; - can be used both to achieve and avoid pregnancy; - call for shared responsibility and cooperation by husband and wife; - require spousal communication; - foster respect for and acceptance of the total person; - have no harmful side effects; - are virtually cost free. NFP is unique because it enables its users to work with the body rather than against it. Fertility is viewed as a beautiful part of life, not a problem to be solved.
7 NFP Awareness Week
Great for the Soul! What are the Where can I Benefits of NFP? learn NFP?
#iuseNFP
Has Society Benefited from Birth Control? Some Would Say Yes, but Let's Look at the Facts. (Tambien les dejo la versión en español)
Let’s open a few eyes with facts. Hormonal contraceptives are listed by the World Health Organization as Class 1 carcinogen for breast, liver, and cervical cancers. [1] It is listed right alongside arsenic, asbestos, silica dust, and tobacco. Another chemical in Depo Provera (the shot) is depo-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) which has been linked with a 2.2 increase in breast cancer.[2] It also causes weight gain, deep vein thromboses (blood clots), hepatocellular adenomas (liver tumors), and strokes. It can quite literally kill you by just taking the prescribed dose. All while lowering woman’s libido![3] The pill ages the cervix. This is one reason why pill use can lead to infertility (and why the contraceptive industry fuels the multi-billion dollar infertility industry).[4] The pill also changes her chemistry& cellular function as to make a woman more susceptible to getting HIV/AIDS and other STDs.[5] Divorce is down and family life is elevated when a woman uses a natural method (Natural Family Planning (NFP), 99.5% effective) rather than hormonal contraception. This is not the rhythm method, but scientifically designed to naturally understand woman’s fertility.[6] How can we say woman is equal when we first force her to rid herself of her fertility (medicinally and surgically) before she is allowed to participate in society? Women have “come so far”, but at what cost? It is not woman, but a genderless creature, femininity and fertility subdued. Is it feminism to say women ought to be like men? Taking hormonal contraceptives can actually make women’s brains like men’s – more compartmentalized, less relational.[7] That’s not elevating woman; that is turning her into a man. In short, enough is enough. Women don’t want to have to become men to play the game in society. We want a society that truly elevates woman in all her glorious femininity. We don’t want to play the game; we want to change the rules. We need a NEW FEMINISM. by: Theresa Martin
Vamos a abrir algunos ojos con hechos. Los anticonceptivos hormonales son listados por la Organización Mundial de la Salud como agente cancerígeno de clase 1 para la mama, el hígado y el cáncer de cuello uterino. [1] Se enumera justo al lado del arsénico, asbestos, polvo de sílice, y el tabaco. Otro producto químico que forma parte del Depo Provera (la inyección) es acetato de depo-medroxiprogesterona (DMPA) que es relacionado con un aumento del 2,2 en el cáncer de mama. [2]
También causa aumento de peso, la trombosis venosa profunda (coágulos de sangre), adenomas hepatocelulares (tumores hepáticos) y derrames cerebrales. Literalmente, puede matar con sólo tomar una dosis prescrita. Todo al mismo tiempo que reduce el libido de la mujer! [3] La píldora envejece el cuello uterino. Esta es una razón por la cual el uso de la píldora puede causar infertilidad (y el por qué la industria anticonceptiva alimenta la multi billonaria industria de la infertilidad). [4] La píldora también cambia su función química y celular haciendo que la mujer sea más susceptible a contraer el VIH / SIDA y otras enfermedades de transmisión sexual. [5] Los rangos de divorcio bajan y la vida familiar es elevada cuando una mujer usa un método natural (Planificación Familiar Natural (PFN), que tiene un 99,5% de efectividad) en lugar de la anticoncepción hormonal. Este no es el método del ritmo, más bien es un método científicamente diseñado para comprender de forma natural la fertilidad de la mujer. [6] ¿Cómo podemos hablar de la igualdad de la mujer cuando primero la obligamos a librarse de su fertilidad (medicinalmente y quirúrgicamente) antes de que se le permitiera participar en la sociedad? Las mujeres “han llegado tan lejos", pero ¿a qué costo? Ya no es mujer, sino una criatura sin género, con una feminidad y fertilidad sometida. ¿Es feminista decir que las mujeres deberían ser como los hombres?. Tomar anticonceptivos hormonales puede realmente hacer que los cerebros de las mujeres sean como la de los hombres - más compartimentada, menos relacional [7] Esta no es la manera de elevar a una mujer; por el contrario esto es convertirla en un hombre. Resumiendo, ya es suficiente!, Las mujeres no quieren convertirse en hombres para jugar un papel en la sociedad. Nosotras queremos una sociedad que realmente eleve a la mujer en toda su gloriosa femineidad. No queremos participar en ese juego, queremos cambiar las reglas. NECESITAMOS UN NUEVO FEMINISMO. [1] http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/ageing/cocs_hrt_statement.pdf [2] http://www.standardnewswire.com/news/382847341.html [3] http://www.drnorthup.com/womenshealth/healthcenter/topic_details.php?topic_id=128 [4] http://www.myfemininemind.com/2012/07/things-your-doctor-may-not-have-told_25.html [5] http://journals.lww.com/jaids/Fulltext/2005/03001/Effect_of_Contraceptive_Methods_on_ Natural_History.13.aspx [6] http://www.familyplanning.net/en/recent-studies [7] http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-09/birth-control-pills-shown-alter-structurewomens-brains July, 2015 w The Courier