In 1972, at the National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development and the Human Life Foundation Conference, NFP experts
from around the world developed a consensus definition of NFP:
“Natural family planning methods are means by which
a couple uses the daily observations of signs and symptoms of the fertile and
infertile phases of the menstrual cycle to guide the timing of intercourse
according to their desire to achieve or avoid a pregnancy.”
In the 19th century, significant
scientific discoveries were made that contributed to the development of natural
methods of family planning. However, it was in the late 1920s that two
physician scientists discovered a key component that led to the first reliable
method of natural birth regulation. Experiments by Dr. Kyusako Ogino from
Japan and Dr. Herman Knaus from Austria determined that, once a woman
ovulates, there will be approximately 12-14 days until her next menses. From
this information (and knowing the approximate life span of the woman’s
egg and man’s sperm), they independently developed formulas to estimate
the fertile times in a woman’s menstrual cycle.
Over the past fifty years, significant innovations
have been made in women’s health care, particularly within the realm of
reproductive science. Parallel to these advances, natural methods for monitoring
fertility have been standardized and refined. This has
led to more effective tracking of a woman’s cycle and her times of
fertility. This information can be used to help couples achieve or
postpone pregnancy and, in many cases, to diagnose and address underlying
gynecological problems.
Modern evidence based methods of natural family
planning including the Billings MethodTM, Creighton Model
FertiliyCare™, Symptothermal Method,
also referred to as STM or FAM (fertility awareness method), the Marquette
Model, Two Day Method, Standard Days or Cycle Beads method, and the Lactation
Amenorrhea Method (LAM). For more
information and patient education handouts about each of these methods, please
go to: http://www.factsaboutfertility.org/resources/overview/
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