How did you learn NFP?

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If you and your spouse practice natural family planning (NFP), or at least know how to use NFP, how did you learn it? Please select any or all options that apply in the poll above.

EDIT: The poll instructions should say the following, but it got cut off, and there is no option to edit:

**If you have used NFP, then please complete the following sentence by selecting all options that apply: I learned natural family planning . . . **
 
I selected the “other method” option in addition to book to account for the app I used before I got rid of my smartphone. My primary method of learning was from a book, but the app itself had information on how to chart and that did come in handy. There are some people who only use the app. I’m not sure how much you would “know” NFP in that case because the app does the interpreting for you, but it is the only method used by some.

ETA: Though looking over the options again, maybe that would be covered by the “on the Internet” option…:o
 
pensmama87 said:
I selected the “other method” option in addition to book to account for the app I used before I got rid of my smartphone. My primary method of learning was from a book, but the app itself had information on how to chart and that did come in handy. There are some people who only use the app. I’m not sure how much you would “know” NFP in that case because the app does the interpreting for you, but it is the only method used by some.

ETA: Though looking over the options again, maybe that would be covered by the “on the Internet” option…:o
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I thought about someone using a computer program or app, but I wasn’t sure how to account for that. I thought that, as you said, in some cases the software may know the rules of NFP much better than the person using the software. And in the case where a person does understand the rules, but uses the program or app for convenience, I didn’t know if it is the program itself that teaches you the rules, or if there is some documentation that you read on the internet, or exactly how it works. Still, I probably should have included some kind of option for this.
 
We had one-on-one lessons with an instructor. I don’t think I’d feel comfortable discussing my cervical mucus in a classroom setting. :eek:
 
Just a guess, but I think you will find that people that have been doing for a long time, learned from someone other than an instructor.

When I got married, there weren’t classes offered at our parish. I’ve been married over 20 years. It didn’t matter to me at the time.

But when I started using NFP, 11 years ago, there weren’t any instructors around us. In addition, most of my friends, that are my age, learned from a book or a friend.

Now, when you go through classes to get married, they offer instruction. And I know at one point, there were two certified instructing couples at our parish.
 
Thanks for the replies. I am a bit surprised at the number of people who learned from a book or from information found on the internet, versus from some kind of formal instruction. I guess the reason for my surprise is that I am always hearing the advice that people should “take an NFP class” or something like that. But my wife and I learned from a home study course and a book, with no formal instruction, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that others learned the same way.

I should have also included an option for having learned from a doctor, nurse, or other medical professional. I think that this would especially be applicable for the Creighton model of NFP. Sorry for not including that as an option. If you did learn NFP this way, you could pick the “from an instructor” option, or the “some other method” option.
 
@Paul, like, I think, Allegra, we learned from an instructor, but it was one-on- well, two, at the instructor’s house. It was in a sense a class, but is that what you mean for formal and in class, or should that be from an instructor, but not a formal class? I haven’t voted yet.
 
choose_to_love said:
@Paul, like, I think, Allegra, we learned from an instructor, but it was one-on- well, two, at the instructor’s house. It was in a sense a class, but is that what you mean for formal and in class, or should that be from an instructor, but not a formal class? I haven’t voted yet.
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For what I mean by a class, I envision an instructor teaching multiple women or multiple couples at the same time. But choose whatever answer you think is best, or you can choose both.

(I had always gotten the impression that NFP is taught that way at least in some places, but based on the poll results, I am starting to wonder if I am mistaken.)
 
Book for me. No instructors in my county, and it wasn’t covered in Marriage Encounter.

This is what bugs me. The Church wants couples to use NFP instead of contraception, and then my parish never mentions it at all along the way, and offers zero resources for learning it. Never mentioned at Mass. Never an article in the bulletin. No literature in the narthex. Hard to take it seriously when our parish completely avoids the subject. I would not be surprised to learn that I’m the only woman trying to use it in the entire town.
 
I answered internet, but mine was combination internet and Taking Charge of Your Fertility
 
I selected both book and at home study.

I purchased the materials for the at home study course but I didn’t do much more then read the book and utilize the materials provided to track my cycles.

I also purchased and read TCOYF before I had converted to Catholicism and found out that it was the only method approved by the Church. Hubby and I were planning on using no contraceptive methods once we were married regardless of whether we converted or not.

It kind of worked out for us in the end.

My cycles are pretty easy to track so it didn’t take much more then one month to figure everything out. It only got weird when I was post-partem but we got through it.
 
I read tcoyf before I was Catholic. We used it for a while and then discovered infertility. We still struggle with infertility so I haven’t charted in years but I am getting back into it and may invest in a one on one class to learn Creighton model in order to achieve pregnancy and if there’s another baby for us I would use it to avoid for at least 6 months or so after.
 
Other methods, because I just read a product manual. I took the advice of some people on here and bought a LadyComp fertility monitor. So far, it’s great!
 
Home study and book is how we learned. There are no classes available in our area so this was the only option for us.
 
I was searching for answers too and one of the post suggested app to help track bbt.

I started using the Kindara app about a year ago. They have a vast amount of knowledge base and their app is so easy to use and so simple to read. Not only am I tracking to avoid pregnancy, but it has empowered me to understand my body in so many ways.

They just launch a new wireless thermometer to make it even easier.
More info here with $10 off - kindara.com/r/aSeBOhiJS
 
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