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Couples seeking a natural way to plan their family should consider a method called – what else? – natural family planning.

An alternative method for birth control that does not use artificial contraceptives or medications, “natural family planning is a means of empowering a woman to be able to recognize her own window of fertility by tell-tale signs her body gives her,” explained Elizabeth Londino, MD, a board-certified family practice physician at Northside Medical Clinic in Jackson.

At the same time, she added, “this is a couple’s method for family planning. It helps men understand women better and opens up communication between couples about pregnancy.” When a woman is in her fertile time, the couple can then decide whether they want to try to get pregnant or avoid pregnancy, she explained.

A woman has an average window of fertility of five to six days each month. That window depends on the woman and her menstrual cycle. Changes occur in a woman’s body when she is fertile. By tracking changes, couples can plan a pregnancy or avoid pregnancy.

According to the Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University, “the effectiveness and significant advantages of natural family planning address the needs of diverse populations with varied religious and ethical beliefs. Natural family planning also provides an alternative for women who want to use natural methods for medical or personal reasons.”

Londino calls this the only method of birth control that can either achieve or avoid pregnancy. “The method is a means of fertility enhancement as well as a form of contraception. What is marvelous is that it almost has as high a rate (20 percent effectiveness) as in-vitro fertilization. It has a 95 percent use effectiveness to avoid pregnancy.”

When understanding natural family planning, it also is important to know what natural family planning is not, Londino said. It gets a bad reputation when people think it is the outdated, “notoriously unreliable,” calendar rhythm method of birth control, which tries to predict a woman’s fertility based on her previous monthly cycle. The rhythm method does not take into account normal changes that can occur with a woman’s menstrual cycle, and therefore, it is not as reliable.


History of Natural Family Planning

· Natural family planning originally was taught by John and Lynn Billings in the 1960s. Both doctors, the Australian couple realized the effectiveness of observing a woman’s vaginal mucus secretions in relation to her fertility.



· After doing more research on the effectiveness of natural family planning, Dr. Tom Hilgers created the Creighton Method as a highly standardized form of the Billings Method. His model also was in response to Pope Paul VI’s 1968 Humanae Vitae encyclical where the Catholic Church proclaimed that any form of artificial contraception is morally wrong.



· The Sympto-Thermal Method is a form of natural family planning that looks at body temperature changes as well as cervical mucus and other internal variations in order to predict a woman’s window of fertility.



Londino uses the standardized Creighton Method to teach her patients about natural family planning. This method, adopted by many in the medical field, should be taught only by accredited medical doctors and nurses.

It is important that couples are taught natural family planning by a qualified instructor and then adhere to the method. Unintended pregnancies are usually related to the couple’s error. The Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University explains on its website that couples “who use natural methods correctly to prevent pregnancy have only a 1 percent to 9 percent chance of becoming pregnant during one year of use, depending on which method they use. Successful use of natural methods to prevent pregnancy depends upon the accuracy of the method in identifying the woman's actual fertile days, the couple's ability to correctly identify the fertile time and the couple's ability to follow the rules of the method they are using.”


Benefits of Natural Family Planning

· Any woman can learn the method, Londino said. “It has been taught to women in third world countries without formal education. Studies in China, India and Africa have proven the method to be 99 percent effective when followed correctly.” That makes natural family planning “just as effective as the pill” – but without the side effects, she added.

· Any woman can use the method. “Women do not need to have regular cycles to use the method because natural family planning only looks at signs during your current cycle to predict fertility,” Londino said. Women who are breast-feeding can use the method because it has no side effects.

· The method has been able to help women with chronic mucus problems, cervical problems and even menstrual-related migraines and PMS.

· This method of family planning is also essentially free. Once the couple learns the method, the costs are minimal because there are no pills or other forms of contraceptives to purchase.



Londino first became interested in the method because of her Catholic faith. She now teaches it to patients of all beliefs. “I have been very much encouraged from the warm response from the non-Catholic community. Many like how it is non-medicinal and that it gives the woman more control over her own body. There is a receptiveness in the community and a real need.”

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