Natural family planning

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a set of Catholic-sanctioned methods of family planning, which help women to achieve or avoid pregnancy by identifying times of infertility and potential fertility. NFP excludes the use of artificial birth control methods and orgasmic acts outside of marital intercourse, promoting abstinence during high fertility times for couples trying to avoid pregnancy.

Some methods of NFP track one of the primary fertility signs: Basal body temperature, cervical mucus (e.g. Billings, Creighton, Two-Day Method), and cervical position. If two or more signs are tracked, the method is referred to as Sympto-Thermal. Other methods make statistical estimates as to when a woman is fertile (eg. Rhythm Method, Standard Days Method). The Lactational Amenorrhea Method helps identify and/or encourage breastfeeding infertility. The Rhythm Method, the most well known method of NFP, has a perfect-use failure rate of 9% per year, while other types of NFP have lower perfect-use failure rates — between 1%-3% per year. The common usage failure rate is up to 25% per year.

Users

NFP and total abstinence are the only contraceptive methods permitted by the Roman Catholic Church. Worldwide, many Catholics use NFP in obedience to church teaching. The practice of NFP among Catholics in developed countries, however, is rather low. In 2002, 24% of the U.S. was Catholic.Largest Religious Groups in the USA. Accessed November 13, 2005. Of sexually active Americans avoiding pregnancy, 1.5% were using NFP.National Survey of Family Growth Use of Contraception and Use of Family Planning Services in the United States: 1982-2002. Advance Data No. 350

NFP is also practiced by many Protestant Christians. Some find the Catholic rationale convincing, and others use it for their own reasons.Torode, Sam and Bethany Torode. Open Embrace: A Protestant Couple Rethinks Contraception. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, March 2002. ISBN 0802839738

Rationale

Catholic doctrine holds that God created sexual intercourse to be both unitive and procreative. Deliberately altering fertility or the marital act with the intention of preventing procreation is considered to be sinful. Thus, artificial birth control methods and orgasmic acts outside of full marital intercourse are forbidden, while not having sex at all (abstinence) is considered morally acceptable.CCC #2351-2359 Having sex at an infertile time in a woman's life (such as pregnancy or post-menopause) is also considered acceptable, since the infertile condition is considered to be created by God, rather than as an act by the couple intended to frustrate fertility.

Thus, it is considered morally acceptable to abstain during the fertile part of the woman's menstrual cycle.CCC #2370 Increasing the infertile period through particular breastfeeding practices — the Lactational Amenorrhea Method — is also considered a moral way to space a family's children.

The benefits of spacing children are recognized by the Catholic ChurchCCC #2368 and use of Natural Family Planning for this reason is encouraged. Humanae Vitae cites "physical, economic, psychological and social conditions" as possibly compelling reasons to avoid pregnancy. Couples are warned, however, against using NFP for selfish, immoral, or insincere reasons. Many Catholic sources extol the benefits children bring to their parents, their siblings, and society in general, and couples are encouraged to have as many children as their circumstances make practical.Humanae Vitae Section I.9

Benefits

NFP methods have no proven side effects, unlike chemical and hormonal contraceptives. NFP does not interfere with the spontaneity of intercourse as barrier methods sometimes do (this does not apply during known fertile times).

NFP can be free or very low-cost. Some methods encourage the use of a thermometer and/or photocopied charts, or purchase of CycleBeads. Some couples choose to use special computer software or other paraphernalia.

NFP is morally acceptable to some religious denominations, specifically the Catholic Church.

The fertility knowledge gained from NFP methods can be used both to avoid pregnancy and to help achieve pregnancy.

Fertility awareness forms of NFP can be used to track reproductive health in general, and aid in the diagnosis of gynecological health and/or fertility problems.

Divorce rate correlation

Proponents of NFP say it increases marital satisfaction and helps lower divorce rates. Anecdotal evidence and small studies are put forth in support of this view. Marital Duration and Natural Family Planning. Accessed October 2005. One study involving 505 women using NFP found a correlation between lower divorce rates and the use of NFP.Divorce Rate Comparisons Between Couples Using Natural Family Planning & Artificial Birth Control To date, no studies exploring a cause and effect relationship between the use of NFP and lowered divorce rates have been carried out.

Claims for improved communication

Fertility awareness forms of NFP (which require daily charting of fertility signs) can result in couples communicating more about their bodies and sexuality; this is said to improve communication skills throughout the entire marriage. The honeymoon theory holds that the scheduled abstinence encourages couples to express love in non-genital ways, and to have a greater appreciation for intercourse when it does happen.

Disadvantages

Some methods of NFP require up to six months of research and observation in order to collect baseline data, so these methods cannot be immediately implemented by a new user.

Some fertility awareness forms of NFP require observation or touching of cervical mucus, an activity some women find distasteful. Some practitioners prefer to use the term "cervical fluid" to refer to cervical mucus, in an attempt to make the subject more palatable to the squeamish. Some drugs, such as decongestants, can change cervical mucus. Women may not be able to rely on these forms of NFP while taking these drugs.

Some fertility awareness forms require tracking of basal body temperatures. Because irregular sleep can interfere with the accuracy of basal body temperatures, shift workers and those with very young children, for example, might not be able to rely on those methods.

The fertility awareness and statistical forms of NFP require periodic abstinence, known as continence, most commonly 8-10 days of each menstrual cycle. It is common for the woman's sexual desire to be highest on those fertile days, and low in other parts of the cycle.

Couples seeking the lowest risk of pregnancy (less than 1% per year) may be required to abstain for more than half of each menstrual cycle.

The NFP methods that encourage breastfeeding infertility can only be used until the woman's first post-partum menstruation. Even the most strict form results in average return of menses at 14 months post-partum, and 13:4 (January-February 1987) 5. and menstruation can return as early as 6 weeks post-partum.

Some schools of NFP teach that orgasmic acts outside of intercourse, such as oral sex and masturbation, are incompatible with the correct practice of NFP. Some couples are not comfortable with this restriction. Periodic abstinence also limits spontaneous sex.

NFP does not protect against sexually transmitted disease.

Implantation failure and miscarriage

It has been suggested that unprotected intercourse in the infertile periods of the menstrual cycle may still result in conceptions, but create embryos incapable of implanting. It has also been suggested that pregnancies resulting from method failures of NFP are at increased risk of miscarriage and birth defects due to aged gametes at the time of conception. The most recent research, however, suggests timing of conception has no effect on miscarriage rates, low birth weight, or preterm delivery.

External links

References

Catholic doctrines | Birth control | Periodic abstinence | Theology of the Body

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