Natural Family Planning

The idea behind natural family planning is very simple. A woman is fertile for only about 100 to 120 hours during a month. Let's call this time period the "window of fertility." By avoiding sexual intimacy during the window of fertility, pregnancy can be avoided. This method can also help achieve pregnancy by understanding the fertility cycle better and learning when the probability of conceiving is highest. The question that various natural family planning methods are trying to answer is "How do I determine exactly when the window of fertility starts and ends?" If the window could be determined with 100% accuracy, then natural family planning would be a nearly perfect birth control method. However, the window can only be estimated (estimated though with high probability). To determine the window of fertility, these methods use such things as temperature, mucus, and cervical changes.

The following links take you to pages that offer you several different approaches to natural family planning. Also be sure to check the books page for good books on the subject.

“Family Doctor.org” by American Academy of Family Physicians http://familydoctor.org/x1740.xml
American Academy of Fertility Care Professionals http://www.aafcp.org
Institute for Reproductive, Health Georgetown University http://www.irh.org/nfp.html
The Billings Method of Natural Family Planning: USA http://www.boma-usa.org CANADA http://www.woomb.ca
The Ovulation Method of Natural Family Planning http://www.familyplanning.net/main_frame.htm
Couple to Couple League http://www.ccli.org/
A collection of FAQs, articles, links, resources, and organizations oriented to Catholics and Catholic issues to show why NFP is better than contraception, sterilization and abortifacients, and get you started in learning about NFP. This web site is produced by a New York chapter of the Couple to Couple League. >> http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/2879/index.html
Under the Microscope: Review and Analysis of the Peak Day. The "Peak Day" is an important indicator of fertility for modern methods of natural family planning (NFP). >> http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/nfp/cmrfall99.htm#microscope
The Creighton Model FertilityCare System is the only medical model of procreative education currently in existence. Because of its standardized and objective format, it has been instrumental in the development of a new reproductive and gynecologic science called NaProTECHNOLOGY (Natural Procreative Techonology). >> http://www.neonramp.com/~popepaul/Fert_Care1.htm
CycleSense - NFP / Fertility Tracking CD-ROM. This premiere fertility tracking software was developed by a team of medical software developers, using FDA approved standards for software development and production. >> http://www.catholiccompany.com/product_detail.cfm?ID=4971&AID+117&new=yes
An innovative software program for keeping track of a woman's periods and view related information. The calendar software helps determine the best time to get pregnant as well as the best time to avoid getting pregnant (based on women's cycles). Works under Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP. >> http://www.femta.com/
Traditional Natural Family Planning requires commitment and a substantial investment of your time. LadyComp and BabyComp fertility computers makes the process effortless. As well, by reducing the possibility of human error, you can have increased confidence that your natural method of birth control is safe, accurate and reliable. >> http://www.raxmedical.com/family_planning.html

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