NFP During a Woman’s 40’s and 50’s

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Hope1960

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I’m 57 and recently had a hysterectomy. I’d been away from the Church from my early 20s until 12 years ago. My Dh and I never practiced NFP and I never considered doing so because I have severe OCD which got much, much worse as well as having PPD after the birth of our one child.
I went through perimenopause and menopause before my hysterectomy.

I went to Confession tonight and Confessed this, and the priest asked me if I’d had learned about the NFP methods, (which I knew very little), would I had been willing to use one?
I said that if my doctor said it was effective, I would have.

So, tonight I’ve been reading about NFP online, on CAF mostly, and now I’m not so sure it would’ve been a good choice for Dh and I.

My periods had always been irregular, and during perimenopause I could go for a month 1/2, maybe two months without a period to having some light bleeding for a few days, then start up again days or a week or two later. Plus I always had discharge (mucus).
  1. How on EARTH can NFP be as effective as ABC under those conditions?
  2. What are the rates of effectiveness for NFP when periods are really whacky and the woman has mucus all the time?
 
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hello, Hope1960,

We will probably cannot give to you 100% safe answers online.
Better is to contact a NFP teacher (such as Couple to Couple League, Billing, Creighton Modem) to have more accurate answers.

But we can give you some informations:
  • What is PPD? 😊 OCD?
  • having discharhe all time does not contradict observation of the mucus. There is two profiles of women in Billings for ex: without always mucus and with mucus all days.
-the lengt of cycles does not against indicate NFP, because it is an observation made day to day. but it can be more difficult, because there is a need to chart every day.
  • Do you have PCOS? It can be a cause for very long and irregular periods. If it is the case, the better is to seek information from an NFP doctor to have more precise informations.
-There is a very very few chances that your average doctor will advise you NFP UNLESS he is himself a trained doctor in at least one NFP method, or that you had express him overtly your strong opposition of any contraceptive method.

Sorry for my English and the this post that had been write briefly.

I stay interest on your replies and to know any accurate information that you would find!

😁
 
Hope1960 said:
What are the rates of effectiveness for NFP when periods are really whacky and the woman has mucus all the time?
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I am not sure that there is any study that had ever been done on this precise situation.

But you can find the perfect and typical rates on WHO (97-99%, to be short, in perfect utilisation!)
 
  1. It can’t be. If you have a very serious reason to avoid pregnancy you should probably abstain completely.
  2. Typical use pregnancy rate is 6 out of 100 over 12 months. Cohort efficacy study of natural family planning among perimenopause age women - PubMed. So the odds that you would become pregnant over the course of using is the success rate of the method raised to the number of years the method is used. For example, if you use the method for 5 years you have a 27% chance of becoming pregnant.
 
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Werbenjagermanjensen said:
It can’t be. If you have a very serious reason to avoid pregnancy you should probably abstain completely.

Typical use pregnancy rate is 6 out of 100 over 12 months. Cohort efficacy study of natural family planning among perimenopause age women - PubMed. So the odds that you would become pregnant over the course of using is the success rate of the method raised to the number of years the method is used. For example, if you use the method for 5 years you have a 27% chance of becoming pregnant.
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That’s not a very good method for trying to not conceive. I’m so grateful for menopause and my hysterectomy.

Abstaining is an unrealistic plan for a loving couple.
 
Hope1960 said:
That’s not a very good method for trying to not conceive. I’m so grateful for menopause and my hysterectomy.

Abstaining is an unrealistic plan for a loving couple.
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While I don’t judge you at all for your choices, it is wrong to say that loving couples can’t realistically abstain. When we have accepted the teaching regarding contraception from the beginning, (which we have done) God gives us the grace to cope with the varied reasons and periods that abstinence is the only way. I pray that you can remember that on a Catholic site many of us feel quite insulted by these blanket statements that seem to suggest that our love is inferior to yours or some such thing.
 
Lev said:
While I don’t judge you at all for your choices, it is wrong to say that loving couples can’t realistically abstain. When we have accepted the teaching regarding contraception from the beginning, (which we have done) God gives us the grace to cope with the varied reasons and periods that abstinence is the only way. I pray that you can remember that on a Catholic site many of us feel quite insulted by these blanket statements that seem to suggest that our love is inferior to yours or some such thing.
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I’m sorry you feel that way, but I do feel that 100% abstinence until the married woman is infertile from menopause is usually, if not always, unrealistic.
 
Hope1960 said:
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Lev:
While I don’t judge you at all for your choices, it is wrong to say that loving couples can’t realistically abstain. When we have accepted the teaching regarding contraception from the beginning, (which we have done) God gives us the grace to cope with the varied reasons and periods that abstinence is the only way. I pray that you can remember that on a Catholic site many of us feel quite insulted by these blanket statements that seem to suggest that our love is inferior to yours or some such thing.
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I’m sorry you feel that way, but I do feel that 100% abstinence until the married woman is infertile from menopause is usually, if not always, unrealistic.
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Many, many, many loving couples in the past and today do that very thing during times when there is uncertainty, especially between the last period and confirmation of completed menopause. Your judgement about how love comes into it is simply wrong.
 
Lev said:
Many, many, many loving couples in the past and today do that very thing during times when there is uncertainty, especially between the last period and confirmation of completed menopause. Your judgement about how love comes into it is simply wrong.
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If that’s true, I firmly believe the percentage of married couples who do this is low.
 
Hope1960 said:
My periods had always been irregular, and during perimenopause I could go for a month 1/2, maybe two months without a period to having some light bleeding for a few days, then start up again days or a week or two later. Plus I always had discharge (mucus).

How on EARTH can NFP be as effective as ABC under those conditions?

What are the rates of effectiveness for NFP when periods are really whacky and the woman has mucus all the time?
Click to expand...
During perimenopause, you might have had to have more times of abstinence. That’s what I found. With certain methods such as Creighton, there is something called essential sameness. You learn how to distinguish the signs. With other methods basal body temperature or use of hormonal monitors can help. “Irregular “periods have really nothing to do with it. It is a matter of observing your signs every day.

And always remember, NFP Is an alternative to complete abstinence not contraception. Contraception is always wrong. If NFP is not a solution, then the couple is called to longer-term abstinence.
 
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Hope1960 said:
Abstaining is an unrealistic plan for a loving couple
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Actually, Hope, it’s not.

But you need not worry about this remember you have OCD. Stop obsessing about this. You have had a hysterectomy. You need not worry about this any longer. I suggest you move away from this topic and not dwell on it.
 
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Speaking in general, not about the OP’s situation, both men and women decline in fertility as they age (prior to menopause for women). So NFP will be more effective (or seem to be more effective) for the typical couple in their 40’s or 50’s.
 
Hope1960 said:
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Lev:
Many, many, many loving couples in the past and today do that very thing during times when there is uncertainty, especially between the last period and confirmation of completed menopause. Your judgement about how love comes into it is simply wrong.
Click to expand...
If that’s true, I firmly believe the percentage of married couples who do this is low.
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There are two factors that help. That is complete acceptance of the Church teaching against artificial contraception and complete commitment to learning not just the techniques of NFP but also the signs of your own body. I think the percentage of Catholic couples who do NFP is probably low as well but that is irrelevant. It also has no bearing on the love between the couple if they are on the same page.
 
Sure!


The % is for 12 mouths of use. The rate are divided by pregnancies when the method is use perfectly, and when the method was practiced with some lackness by the couple (typical use).

Among high- effective method:

STM (Sympto Termal Method): 98% perfect use, 98% typical use
BBT (Basal Body Temperature): 99%perfect use, 75% typical use

Among more recent method designed for the developping world:

Two Day Method: 96% correct use, 86% typical use
STM (Standard Day Method): 95% consitant use, 88% typical use.
(sort of new rythm method)

For the temporal method of Breastfeeding amnhorea (the more ancient method in the world! That had prevent more pregnancies than any contraceptives):

LAM (Lactational Amhenorhea Method): 99% perfect use, 98% typical use.

We are not in NFP anymore which is based on observation, not calendar, but we can added:

the rythm method: 91% perfect, 75% typical use.

The links provided by the previous poster, show a high rate of success when use correctly.
Remember: The billings method had been taught in China, with the one-Child policy

As Catholics, we are called to not only look at the efficiency of an NFP method, but also question our our openess to accept any given child, as a married couple, even if we use NFP. NFP is not a other form of contraception, but a way to live our sexuality in harmony with fertility.

And sometimes, complete abstinence could be a better option.
 
Hope, I would suggest you don’t give this another moment’s thought. Since you had a hysterectomy, it is a moot point. Speaking as a non-Catholic, I believe NFP is a terrible thing for someone with OCD. I don’t think any God would want you obsessing over all of the issues related to NFP. NFP provides a lot of opportunity for obsessing. Those without OCD would suggest praying it away. Those with OCD know what the disorder is really about, that it is an actual “thing”, and that you can’t pray it away.

Anyhow, I hate to see anyone suffer, and I hope you aren’t OCD’ing your way through thinking about this issue. Let it go.
 
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Ron_Conte said:
So NFP will be more effective (or seem to be more effective) for the typical couple in their 40’s or 50’s.
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Post-hysterectomy, even dipping chocolate in red wine is 100% effective . . .

🙂

hawk
 
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