Natural Family Planning: What is it?

Natural Family Planning (NFP), sometimes called fertility awareness, is a group of methods that track the biological signs a woman's body produces during the course of her menstrual cycle. Some methods rely on vaginal secretions, others on testing hormones in urine, and still others use temperature measurements. Here at Fertility Pride Education, I offer the Sympto-Thermal Method as taught by SymptoPro. You can learn more about these methods and others at FACTS About Fertility's webpage.

Is NFP Reliable?

NFP is VERY reliable and comparable to artificial methods of birth control, whether used to avoid pregnancy, achieve conception, or simply as a tool to monitor health. However, each method has its own effectiveness ratings based on it's use in avoiding pregnancy. SymptoPro's effectiveness is discussed here.

Can I use NFP as my family planning method?

The basic answer is: yes! You can and should! Whether you are in premenopause, breastfeeding, coming off of birth control, or have irregular cycles, you can use it reliably as a method of family planning. However, there may be lifestyles that make NFP incompatible with pregnancy prevention; for example, a sexually active woman who is not in a committed relationship, or a teenager who has just started dating. In these cases, using NFP is encouraged to be used as a health monitoring tool. Whatever your use for NFP, it can fit in just fine!

In my method information tab, I offer class prices for learning SymptoPro: online, and in-person.