What is Natural Family Planning (NFP)?
Natural Family Planning is a blanket term that refers to various methods of fertility awareness which give couples the freedom to understand the signs of fertility and use those signs to achieve their family planning goals.

How does NFP Work?
Modern methods of NFP teach a woman to recognize and chart her signs of fertility. Couples use these signs to determine whether a woman is fertile or infertile on any given day.

So how is this different from the Rhythm Method?
The Rhythm Method, introduced in the 1930s, was based on counting the number of days in a woman’s cycle and calculating the approximate time of fertility based on the idea that ovulation occurred in mid-cycle. This was not effective for many women who did not have regular cycles. Modern NFP methods, however, rely on day-to-day signs of fertility to determine when ovulation is approaching.

So a woman is only fertile for a specific number of days in a given month?
Yes. In any given month a woman is only fertile for an average of 6 to 9 days.

How does a woman know when this “fertile window” will take place?
The body’s reaction to onset of the “ovulatory event” will tell a woman when she is nearing ovulation. Each month, an egg is selected in the ovary to develop toward ovulation. As it develops inside a follicle (fluid-filled cyst), the follicle begins to produce estrogen. As the levels of estrogen rise in the body, a woman starts to secrete a lubricative, clear and stretchy type of mucus from the cervix. She will note this secretion as it leaves her body through the vagina. This is the primary sign of fertility, and the one commonly associated with the Ovulation Method. Other methods (specifically Sympto-Thermal methods), will note this mucus secretion in addition to a basal temperature shift that takes place near the time of ovulation.

How does a woman know that her “fertile window” has passed?
After ovulation occurs, a new hormone becomes dominant. This hormone, progesterone, overrides the effect of the estrogen and causes the “drying up” of the mucus secretions so that usually a woman will no longer observe any mucus after her fertile window has passed and instead will have “dry days” until the onset of her next menses.

It sounds simple, but I’m not sure I could interpret these signs on my own. How will I learn to identify and interpret these signs? Any couple wanting to use NFP should seek out a trained teacher or practitioner. In our area, there are several FertilityCare™ Practitioners who teach the FertilityCare™ System, which is a form of the Ovulation (or mucus-only) Method. They can help you to learn the method and quickly gain confidence in its use.

How is NFP a “true method” of family planning?
NFP is a true method of family planning because the same method can be used to achieve or avoid a pregnancy. To avoid a pregnancy, a couple would avoid genital contact on all days that are considered fertile and use only those days that have been identified as infertile days. To achieve a pregnancy, a couple could use days of fertility for intercourse.

How effective is this method?
Most modern methods of NFP are 96-98% effective in helping a couple avoid a pregnancy. The FertilityCare™ System has a documented method effectiveness of 99.5% in avoiding a pregnancy (as published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, 1998).

Of course, NFP methods can also be used to achieve a pregnancy. By using “fertility-focused intercourse” almost 75% of couples of normal fertility can achieve a pregnancy in their first cycle of trying. By the sixth month of trying, nearly all couples of normal fertility will have achieved a pregnancy successfully.

The FertilityCare™ System also has a tremendous record in helping couples with infertility problems to achieve a pregnancy…naturally. Most women with chronic infertility have an underlying hormonal or gynecologic problem that is causing their infertility. In NaproTRACKING™ a her cycles, a woman provides practitioners and doctors with evidence of a suspected medical problem that can be tested and treated to remove the cause of the infertility. Such medical treatment may involve cooperative hormone therapy or minor surgeries to clear up the problem that is causing the infertility. After such treatment, up to 80% of infertility clients are able to naturally achieve a pregnancy.