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Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a method of pregnancy prevention approved by the Roman Catholic Church and other religious groups. It involves analyzing a woman’s cycle to detect ovulation and abstaining from intercourse during fertile periods. NFP methods include analyzing vaginal mucus, taking basal body temperature, and using a fertility monitor. The lactation amenorrhea method (LAM) is also a form of NFP. NFP is not always effective and does not prevent STDs. Some Catholic couples support NFP, while others separate from the church over its teachings on birth control.
Natural Family Planning (NFP) refers to several ways to prevent or attempt pregnancy that are generally approved by the Roman Catholic Church and some other religious groups. These methods are often used more to prevent pregnancy, although studies have shown a certain amount of success using them in the opposite direction to cause pregnancy. NFP practices are based on analyzing a woman’s cycle by various means to detect ovulation and abstaining from intercourse during times when a woman is most likely to become pregnant, if prevention is the goal. pregnancy.
It is known that the Roman Catholic Church does not approve of the use of barriers or artificial methods of birth control. Generally, the church considers it acceptable to attempt pregnancy prevention if no artificial means are used. Natural family planning methods rely heavily on the idea that abstinence is important in avoiding pregnancy, and it is not an affront to God to figure out when pregnancy is most likely to occur or to avoid sexual intercourse during that time. period of time.
A few different methods of predicting ovulation may fall under the scope of natural family planning. These include those that analyze vaginal mucus. As ovulation approaches, mucus becomes clear, stretchy, and more diffuse. By following changes in mucus as they occur throughout the month, a woman may be able to determine her fertile periods and avoid intercourse during this time. Women can also take their basal body temperature to determine likely days of ovulation or use a fertility monitor to assess the likelihood of pregnancy. Some with very regular cycles may assume the likelihood of pregnancy based on monitoring on a calendar.
When women breastfeed, they can use natural family planning called the lactation amenorrhea method (LAM). There are some guidelines for this, including missing periods, breastfeeding at least once every 4 hours, and baby under six months old. This doesn’t work for everyone, because despite regular breastfeeding, some women may start ovulating earlier, as indicated by the return of normal menstrual cycles.
It is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of natural family planning. When couples use one method perfectly, they can have an annual failure rate of around 5-10%, or sometimes even higher. The LAM method tends to be quite effective with a failure rate of between 2-5%. However, NFP is not always used perfectly and some methods may be less effective than others.
There are advantages and disadvantages to natural family planning. It clearly doesn’t prevent all pregnancies and does nothing to prevent STDs. This is of great concern to many global health organizations, especially in countries where spousal infidelity is common and the rate of devastating sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV is very high. However, for people who use additional birth control such as condoms with NFP, it may help reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies, although it should be clearly understood that the church does not approve of this practice.
There are many Catholic couples, especially in Western countries, who separate from the church over its teachings on birth control. It is fair to say that many American Catholic couples, for example, do not practice NFP. There remain a fair number of American Catholic couples who support NFP and swear by its various methods as reliable means of preventing pregnancy.
