Reliability of NFP vs artificial contraception

[johnnyjoe]

astegallrnc:

Malia,

I found this article… thanks to a search on the delphi.com NFP forum… that supports some of what I mentioned… convenience, lack of support from health care providers, and lack of information of effectiveness. It states “Women are reluctant to use NFP methods for family planning because of incompatible lifestyles, personal choice, lack of knowledge, lack of access, perceptions of ineffectiveness, and difficulty of use (Fehring, 1995). Another reason is that persons in influential positions (for example, physicians and nurses) have little knowledge of NFP and do not promote or trust the use of NFP as a means of child spacing (Fehring, Hanson, & Stanford, 2001).” jognn.awhonn.org/cgi/content/full/33/1/34#FEHRING-1995

Autumn

Dr. Fehring teaches at Marquette, and is one of the leading and most active researchers on NFP in this country.

Most of the new in-depth knowledge the medical world is gaining in regard to women’s fertility is coming from those affiliated with the NFP community.

Dr. Hilgers, founder of the Creighton Model NFP method, has recently published the first Ob-Gyn textbook for medical school use that comes with the full experience and scope of the NFP community. Sooner or later the larger Ob-Gyn community is going to have to give up the BCP and start treating women’s fertility in a REAL way, or they are simply going to lose their customers…

 

[astegallrnc]

Hello johnnyjoe from the other side of the state!

Most of the new in-depth knowledge the medical world is gaining in regard to women’s fertility is coming from those affiliated with the NFP community.

Yes, and some give credit where credit is due.

Dr. Hilgers, founder of the Creighton Model NFP method, has recently published the first Ob-Gyn textbook for medical school use that comes with the full experience and scope of the NFP community. Sooner or later the larger Ob-Gyn community is going to have to give up the BCP and start treating women’s fertility in a REAL way, or they are simply going to lose their customers…

I pray you are correct, but there are many, many happy contracepting women and couples. The entire concept of CrFCM and NaProTechnology is desperately needed in medicine. I speak as a professional and a woman receiving services. I believe NaPro would have helped my DH and me become parents more quickly, but no one told me about it. I failed to research thoroughly and discover it on my own.

I am so impressed with Dr. Hilgers that I would consider relocating to Omaha to be part of his work.

Autumn

 

[Leeta]

Is there really any life-threatening condition nowadays? You know a lot of doctors are incompetent and/or lazy and do not want to take the extra time to care for a mother with a serious or chronic illness. Also, population control (Why would anyone want more than 2 children?) is always an underlying attitude among many OB-/gyns

The reason i ask this is due to comments by Dr. Bernard Nathanson, OB-GYN, about a journal article detailing the successful, live birth of twins or triplets to a mother who had undergone a lung and another vital organ transplant just one ot two years before giving birth.

His commentary (this was about 15 years ago when pre-natal care was probably less advanced than now) was that this multiple birth shows that there is no longer such a thing as a mother too ill to give live birth. I’ll have to look and see if I still have a copy of the article and his commentary. Dr. Nathanson was instrumental in getting abortion legalized and ran the largest abortion mill in the world then in NYC, killing about 60,000 children with his own hands.

Now, I grant you that perhaps the pregnancy might be uncomfortable, in bed or in the hospital, for someone with a chronic illness. Of course, such is also a consideration in deciding whether to have another child.

But perhaps we should not speak of the pregnancy, in and of itself being life-threatening, due to advances in pre-natal care.

 

[Chovy]

Well-- here are my 2 cents. Our story is a bit different than some others I think. Sorry it’s so long…

I was put on BC when I was 18 because of irregulary cycles and a condition called polycystic ovarian disease. My period came once every 3 months or less often. On the pill, my cycles improved but not much. My doctor ( a Catholic) would only prescribe BC for sexually INactive patients because of its abortifacent properties.

When I was 28, my husband and I were married and we didn’t practice any type of BC. No NFP either. We just made love and hoped for the best- a baby. After about a year of that, we went through infertility and were told our only hope of conceiving was artificial reproduction. After much prayer and grief (for our fertility) we decided to hold fast to our beliefs but to try the “Catholic-Approved” treatment. We conceived, but miscarried. We then moved on to adoption. Despite the recommendation of the fertility clinic, we chose not to use ABC.

A few months after starting the adoption process, I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to contact a different doctor. I had several people at church ask us if we were going to start a family, and when I said we were trying to adopt, they suggested I contact Dr. Hilgers at the Pope Paul VI institute. These weren’t our best friends, these we the kind of people you wave to after Mass because you used to babysit their kids. Over the course of about 2 months, I had no less than 15 people tell me to call this doctor, one of whom was a woman whom I met on the internet in a Catholic Infertility group- who lived in Australia! Her comment to me was that she wasn’t sure where in the US I was, but if she lived there, she would look up Dr. Hilgers at the Pope Paul VI Institute. That sealed it for me. I finally listened to what was being shouted at me from above and called his office.

The doctor I see is the founder of the Creighton method of NFP. My husband and I have been using it for almost a year and through this method of charting, the doctor was able to identify the hormonal problems that were leading to my infertility. He performed surgery and for the first time since my early teens, I have normal cycles. He also determined that I had pelvic adhesions which were causing the pain I had had for over 10 years. We are now just working on getting my hormones perfected so that I can carry a baby. See what the fertility clinic never figured out is that even if I had gotten pregnant again, the odds of miscarriage were extremely high. We don’t know if God wants us to become parents through adoption or the traditional means but we are sure open to His plan.

So… for us, the decision to use NFP instead of BC was one based on faith and hope. I’d never use ABC again. NFP allows me to feel in control of my health and fertility and makes sexual relations and family planning a truly mutual, procreative and unitive experience.

 

[michaeljw]

I agree with most of the comments made on this thread, so I do not intend to negate anything that has been said except to point out that it is somewhat an apples-to-oranges comparison to make between ABC and NFP. After all, ABC is a major, multi-billion dollar industry while NFP is, frankly, not for profit.

Of course the corporations behind ABCs are going to invest millions to promote studies that validate the benefits and advantages of their product. ABC is heavily marketed in magazines, television and movies. It can be found in practically every single OB’s office supported by colorful charts and polished pamphlets, not to mention the OB’s strong recommendation. It has undergone an Orwellian shift over the past 30 years to become the “morally responsible” course of action for unmarried and married couples.

NFP, being a more natural technique and not a “product” per se does not have any financial means to conduct major studies and focused advertising campaigns. There is no material incentive to promote its use, and let’s face it, the marketing is meager if not non-existent. From a cultural perspective, I think JohnnyJoe’s comments were spot-on.

ABC is grounded in the premise that the doctor knows more about sex than the priest. There are plenty in the medical community doing great things to help further the cause for NFP, but not nearly enough to balance the steady stream of med school students armed with knowledge and probably first-hand experience with ABCs. As long as the culture stays away from the moral debate, ABCs will always dominate.

I don’t know why schools dedicated to medical science don’t promote a stronger understanding of women’s fertility. It has been my experience that women practicing NFP often know more about their reproductive system than their OBs. Time after time, I’ve heard about women who suffer from one reproductive ailment or another and the common “cure” is the Pill. The one OB that I know and trust on this issue has told me that there is no medical condition for which the Pill is the only treatment. Rare is the doctor who actually treats the underlying causes of the woman’s problems. It’s easier to mask the symptoms than to heal the patient. Chovy’s testimony is a case in point.

I’m glad that discussions like this are taking place, but more discussion is needed on how to change the culture. Effectiveness rates alone won’t convince hearts to change. We need to change the way we view marriage and sex and not least of all children and the great blessing of parenthood.

Michael

 

[leaner]

AMEN Michael!!! Well said. You should see the look of “yeah, whatever” when I mention charting to a doctor…but then I start talking and it turns out I know as much or more than they do…it really irks them – it’s actually visible. LOL. When my docs told me to just “stop nursing” my 2wk old b/c of medication, I learned my little heart out to find out if what they were saying was true. nope, it wasn’t. My med had indeed been studied in breastmilk and was found to be anything but a reason to stop. When I mentioned this to a friend of mine who’s a GP, he said “OBs get about an hour of lactation education – maybe 4hrs at the most during their education to be OBs…” – kind of sad, actually. Some day I will help women to be as smart as they can where their bodies and those of their babies are concerned. (someday when my babies aren’t babies anymore).

 

[Michelle_in_KC]

Effectiveness rates alone won’t convince hearts to change. We need to change the way we view marriage and sex and not least of all children and the great blessing of parenthood.

A change of heart…would definitely be nice. I will continue to pray for that.

 

[johnnyjoe]

Chovy:

The doctor I see is the founder of the Creighton method of NFP. My husband and I have been using it for almost a year and through this method of charting, the doctor was able to identify the hormonal problems that were leading to my infertility. He performed surgery and for the first time since my early teens, I have normal cycles. He also determined that I had pelvic adhesions which were causing the pain I had had for over 10 years. We are now just working on getting my hormones perfected so that I can carry a baby. See what the fertility clinic never figured out is that even if I had gotten pregnant again, the odds of miscarriage were extremely high. We don’t know if God wants us to become parents through adoption or the traditional means but we are sure open to His plan.

So… for us, the decision to use NFP instead of BC was one based on faith and hope. I’d never use ABC again. NFP allows me to feel in control of my health and fertility and makes sexual relations and family planning a truly mutual, procreative and unitive experience.

Another powerful testimonial for Dr. Hilgers! Even though I teach the STM method for CCL, I readily refer women with fertility difficulties to Dr. Hilgers. This man is on the fore front of what I pray will become a groundswell in the medical profession. Dr. Hilgers is taking the Ob-Gyn medical model out of the “baby doctor” mode and into the whole scope of fertililty treatments and prenatal care. It is really an organic extension of what an Ob-Gyn should be…the real high-tech problem solving backup support for family docs who deliver babies.

I am so glad to hear of your success. I will pray that it continue.

 

[spizzybee]

First and foremost I would like to state that I have zero experience with either NFP or ABC. However, from a single students point of view, I have a few comments. I truly believe that the media plays a definitive role in the views of contraception. In todays society, with the “working mom,” an “unplanned” baby is viewed as an extreme inconvenience rather than a gift. Heaven forbid that one would have to rearrange work, life after work etc. Our televisions are constantly filled with the working mom who had to unfortunately find a nanny and can’t go on the cruise etc because of that one night! Geez. We are also an extremely selfish “me” society and anything that inconveniences us, we tend to avoid. From my limited knowledge of NFP, the days of “nonintimacy” are viewed as inconvenient. Many would rather prefer to be intimate without the “risk” of creating a child. ABC therefore would seem like the logical choice, I can still be intimate without a risk etc. Once again this is just my opinion. It is a very interesting topic though.