Catholic Word of the Day: NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING (practice), 07-16-09

CatholicReference.net ^ | 07-16-09 | Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary

[Salvation]

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NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING (practice)

A method of determining the fertile and infertile days of a woman. there are three methods currently in use and all rely on the observation and recording of one or more signs of the body:

1. the sympto-thermal method. This is the most comprehensive and surest of the three. It involves the observation and recording of all three signs: a. mucus secreted in the cervical opening: the average menstrual period lasts from three to seven days. Toward the end of this period mucus begins to appear at the opening of the cervix. At first it is tacky and yellowish. After a couple of days it becomes a stretchy and turns into a whitish color, like that of an egg white. It reaches this peak quality one to two days prior to ovulation. This indicates the time of greatest fertility; b. body temperature: this is recorded with the use of a basal thermometer, which measures body temperature in tenths of degrees. Twenty-four hours after ovulation, the body temperature will rise approximately .4-.6 degree. About the fourth day after the temperature rise it is safe to assume that the infertile days have begun,provided the other signs concur; c. cervical opening: before ovulation, the cervix is open, soft, and high. After ovulation, the cervix is closed, firm, and lengthens. the concurrence of all three signs indicates the days on which a woman is ovulating. From this can be charted her fertile and infertile days. Differences in individual cycles must be taken into consideration;

2. the Billings, or ovulation, method relies solely on the recording of the mucus symptom;

3. the third method relies solely on the temperature symptom. the sympto-thermal method is more than 99 per cent effective for those who are willing to work with it. the Billings method is also reliable but requires a qualified instructor and somewhat more time and instruction.

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

[Salvation]

This method of controlling prgnancy is accepted by the Catholic Church because it relies on the abstinence of the husband and wife.

Very reliable. (This is not the old rhyrhm method.)

[Salvation]

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[Salvation]

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[Salvation]

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[SoConPubbie]

NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING

That's not a word, it's a phrase!

[conservative cat]

I have been gradually teaching my girls this, as they get old enough to understand. I think it is a huge travesty that girls are not taught this at a young (fertile) age.

[Salvation]

LOL! Oh, well, it’s what the screen brought up.

[Tax-chick]

It’s very easy, if you start by simply having them record their dates of menstruation, as soon as it’s relevant. If they have unusual results, then observing temperature can often be informative.

The menstrual cycle is a general reflection of a woman’s health from puberty to menopause, and it’s very unfortunate that so few women, and so few doctors, pay any attention to what it reveals.

[conservative cat]

I had 21 day cycles as a teenager! That was not fun. Now, looking back, I’d be curious as to how long my luteal phase was with a cycle so short. I have found temperature to be kind-of a pain (I wake early for work), but I can pinpoint ovulation based on the other methods.

[Tax-chick]

It’s possible that diet changes and vitamin supplements could have helped with your cycles. The temperature sign (which I also find to be a pain) is very useful for diagnosing the cause of cycle irregularities, though.