Few couples embrace natural family planning 

Few couples embrace natural family planning

Christine and Joshua Schulz teach natural family planning through The Couple to Couple League. 'We mix in the moral teachings as well as the practical.' Joshua said.
Each day the couple ' who hoped to conceive their first child ' carefully monitored a specific fertility marker to determine Susana's chance of getting pregnant during their honeymoon week.
'Sometimes it does become complicated because anything that's good is hard work. but once you learn the method you appreciate knowing your body and knowing that you're doing what's best for you. 30.
Natural family planning. also called fertility awareness. is a daily process by which a woman learns to recognize the fertile and infertile times of her menstrual cycle. Based on that information. couples decide whether to attempt or prevent pregnancy by abstaining from sex during the approximately six days of fertility.
Though experts say no product or method guarantees pregnancy. modern natural family planning techniques based on measurements of biological indicators have significantly improved the chances of conception.
'The fallacy is that it doesn't work.' said Julie Mickelson. an obstetrician and gynecologist at Columbia St. Mary's Milwaukee Campus. 'But if you learn natural family planning from a trained person. it can be done successfully.'
Unlike the outdated calendar rhythm method that assumed that every woman had a 28-day menstrual cycle. natural family planning takes into account the individuality of each woman. she said.
Women turn to natural family planning techniques because the method meshes with their ethical. moral and spiritual beliefs. Mickelson said. In addition. it tends to increase communication between couples. she said.
Women ovulate about once a month. The process involves the release of an egg from the ovaries that then travels down one of the Fallopian tubes toward the uterus. Before its release. the hormone estrogen causes the uterus to build up its lining with extra blood and tissue in preparation for pregnancy. If the egg reaches the uterus and is fertilized by a sperm cell. it will develop into a fetus.
However. an unfertilized egg doesn't attach to the uterine wall. Instead. the uterus sheds the extra tissue lining and it. along with blood and the unfertilized egg. leaves the body through the vagina.
The first. known as the ovulation method. is based on the consistency of a woman's cervical mucous. As the estrogen levels increase. the mucous becomes stretchy. clear and slippery. The woman is taught to look for these changes.
The second. known as the symptothermal method. is based on the woman's waking body temperature. which rises slightly during ovulation. Although a drop in temperature sometimes happens the day before ovulation. the method is most useful for women trying to determine their infertile days. The symptothermal method is used in conjunction with the ovulation method and sometimes physical changes in the cervix for best accuracy.
The last. known as the Marquette model. uses an electronic fertility monitor. which measures hormone levels in the urine to estimate the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle and pinpoint ovulation. The information from the monitor. in combination with observations of cervical mucus. basal body temperature. or a simple algorithm gives the couple multiple markers to make the best decision about their fertility status. said Richard Fehring. the professor of nursing and director of Marquette's Institute for Natural Family Planning who developed the model in 1988.
Christine and Joshua Schulz always knew that they wanted children. though they'd never talked about how many. Christine says she always knew that she wanted to use natural family planning. 'The idea that I can choose when to have a child and knowing that this choice is totally reversible is appealing to me. 26. The couple now teaches natural family planning through the Couple to Couple League.
1. The ovulation method is based on the consistency of a woman's cervical mucous. As the estrogen levels increase. the mucous becomes stretchy. clear and slippery. The woman is taught to look for these changes.
2. The symptothermal method is based on the woman's waking body temperature. which rises slightly during ovulation. Although a drop in temperature sometimes happens the day before ovulation. the method is most useful for women trying to determine their infertile days. The symptothermal method is used in conjunction with the ovulation method and sometimes physical changes in the cervix for best accuracy.
3. The Marquette model uses an electronic fertility monitor. which measures hormone levels in the urine to estimate the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle and pinpoint ovulation.





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