COUPLE TO COUPLE LEAGUE SYMPTO-THERMAL METHOD

Further information available at: Couple To Couple League -- www.ccli.org

The sympto-thermal method of Natural Family Planning (NFP) is “fertility awareness,” using the main signs of fertility in a cross-checking way to determine the overall times of fertility and infertility in a woman’s menstrual cycle. The two main signs observed are a woman's normal cervical mucus secretions and her waking temperature. A third and optional sign is the physical change that occurs in her cervix.

A married couple’s virtuous application of this knowledge either to plan or postpone pregnancy is called responsible parenthood. When used to avoid pregnancy, the basic "method" is abstinence from the marital embrace during the fertile time. To achieve pregnancy, couples are informed of the most fertile time and receive other helpful strategies to optimize couple fertility.

The method is taught in a series of three classes spaced about a month apart to allow the couple to read the Student Guide and chart the woman’s own cycle. The classes are taught by certified Teaching Couples and include presentations, an interactive DVD and exercises in the Student Guide with hands-on chart analysis. The couples have opportunities to ask questions and review their own charts.

The materials for the course include a 2007 The Art of Natural Family Planning Student Guide, a blank chart book, a digital basal thermometer, a resource CD with articles and documents on a variety of topics related to marriage, family and fertility, and a year’s subscription to the bi-monthly Family Foundations magazine. Personal chart consultations are available. The Couple to Couple League International also has a Medical Advisory Board to help answer questions.

DOES IT TAKE MUCH TIME EACH DAY FOR FERTILITY AWARENESS?
Not at all. With the Sympto-Thermal Method, it takes just a minute each morning for a woman to take her waking temperature. Then during the day she takes a moment now and then to become aware of her cervical mucus. Once the information is recorded, she has a complete and cross-checking picture of her fertility.

HOW EFFECTIVE IS NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING?
A number of studies have shown that the Sympto-Thermal Method of NFP can be used at the 99% level of effectiveness for avoiding or spacing pregnancies. The journal, Human Reproduction (May 2007, Volume 22, No. 5), printed the results of a study of the effectiveness of a Sympto-Thermal Method (STM) of fertility awareness to avoid pregnancy. Nine hundred women provided data from 17,638 cycles. According to Dr. Petra Frank-Herrmann, Professor, Dept. of Gynaecological Endocrinology and Fertility Disorders, University of Heidelberg, and author of the study:

“…The pregnancy rate for women who used the STM method correctly in our study was 0.4%, which can be interpreted as one pregnancy occurring per 250 women per year. Therefore, we maintain that the effectiveness of STM is comparable to the effectiveness of modern contraceptive methods such as oral contraceptives, and is an effective and acceptable method of family planning.” 

To view the abstract: http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/content/vol22/issue5/index.dtl#FERTILITY_CONTROL.

There are many other benefits to the practice of Natural Family Planning. To ensure the greatest prospects for success in learning NFP, we suggest finding out all of the reasons why this is the form of birth regulation you will want to use for the rest of your fertile life together.

Over three decades of helping couples learn and practice NFP, the Couple to Couple League has found that a significant factor in success has a little to do with understanding physical signs and a lot to do with communicating as a couple and agreeing on a course of action. Once couples understand the many positive advantages and spiritual reasons for using NFP, and once they have sought Gods guidance for their family, they can fashion their "game plan" with confidence.

After childbirth, a mother can postpone the return of fertility with a practice known as “ecological breastfeeding.” It’s the world’s oldest form of natural child spacing and is still widely practiced in certain parts of the world. The key factor of ecological breastfeeding is frequent suckling and the average return of fertility with this type of breastfeeding is about 14 months. When the signs of fertility return while breastfeeding, the couple can then use systematic fertility awareness charting with NFP to further postpone pregnancy if they choose. For more information on this type of breastfeeding read, Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing, a book that is available from www.ccli.org.

For local information on Natural Family Planning, contact the Diocese of Camden NFP Office: 856-583-6120 or nfpoffice@camdendiocese.org.