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Natural Family Planning

What is Natural Family Planning?

Natural family planning is a method used to help couples determine when they are naturally fertile or infertile so that they may achieve or avoid pregnancy.  

Services

The Catholic FertilityCare Center of Western New York provides a natural method of family planning based on the Creighton Model Fertility Care System (CrMs) at Buffalo's Sisters of Charity Hospital and Mercy Hospital. Services are also provided at Mount St. Mary's Hospital.

Achieve or Avoid Pregnancy

The CrMS relies upon the standard observation and charting of biological markers that are essential to understanding a woman's health and fertility. These biomarkers tell the couple when they are naturally fertile and infertile, thus allowing the couple to use the system either to achieve or avoid pregnancy.

The biomarkers also identify abnormalities in a woman's health. The CrMS is "an authentic language" that, with a few minutes of daily observation, provides a woman with incredible insight into the function of her body.

Advantages

• Standardized and objective
• Easy to learn
• Medically safe
• Reliable
• Inexpensive
• Versatile (usable at any stage of a woman's reproductive life; regular and irregular cycles; breastfeeding)
• Precise (identifies true days of fertility and infertility)

What Couples Like About the CrMS

• Provides a system that mutually values, respects, and understands their combined fertility
• Promotes shared responsibility, unlike contraceptives
• Enhances their sexuality and promotes marital bonding
• Strengthens marriages and families; views children as gifts
• Encourages involvement of men for support in decision making

Effectiveness

• CrMS is 99.5% method effective (perfect use) and 96.8% use effective (typical use)
• Nearly three times more successful than IVF for assisting infertility couples and does not result in early abortions or frozen embryos
• Multiple pregnancy rates are ten times lower than that with artificial reproductive technologies
• Prematurity rate has increased every year over the last 25-30 years nationally. NaProTechnology Prematurity Prevention Program has cut the rate from 12.1% to 7%. Preterm birth is associated with increased mortality and neurological injury for the baby.

Gynecologic and Reproductive Health

NaProTechnology uses the CrMS to monitor various events and to telegraph abnormalities in the menstrual and fertility cycle. When the cycle functions abnormally, NaProTechnology identifies problems and treats them cooperatively with the cycle.

Women now have an opportunity to know and understand the causes of the symptoms from which they may suffer.

Real Solutions to Real Problems

• Infertility
• Menstrual cramps
• Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
• Ovarian cysts
• Irregular or abnormal bleeding
• Polycystic ovarian disease
• Repetitive miscarriage
• Postpartum depression
• Prematurity prevention
• Hormonal abnormalities
• Chronic discharges
• Other health problems

What Women Like About NaProTechnology

• Provides knowledge about how her body works
• Increases awareness of abnormalities in the menstrual and fertility cycles
• Helps the physician to understand the causes of her problems
• Allows her to be a collaborator with the physician in her healthcare maintenance

Effectiveness

• 95% success rate for treating premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
• 95% success rate for treating postpartum depression (PPD)

Treatment Facilities

• Sisters Hospital – M. Steven Piver Center for Women's Health and Wellness (Buffalo)
• Mercy Hospital of Buffalo (Buffalo)
• Mount St. Mary's Hospital (Lewiston)

Getting Started

Learning the CrMS begins with an introductory session that explains scientific foundations, methodology, applications to various reproductive categories and how to NaProTRACK™ your cycles with the CrMS. 

Class Dates

Introductory classes in Natural Family Planning/Creighton Model are held at Sisters of Charity Hospital, Mercy Hospital of Buffalo and Mount St. Mary's Hospital.

To register for class, please call the hospital of your choice using the phone numbers listed below.

Sisters Hospital – Piver Center (Buffalo)

(716) 862-1944
All sessions are held on Saturday in the Piver Center and begin at 10:30 a.m.

• August 21, 2010
• September 25, 2010
• October 9, 2010
• November 13, 2010

Mercy Hospital (Buffalo)

(716) 828-2438
The following sessions are held on Saturday and begin at 10:30 a.m.

• September 11, 2010
• November 6, 2010

The following sessions are held on Wednesday and begin at 6:30 p.m.

• October 6, 2010
• December 1, 2010

Mount St. Mary's Hospital (5300 Military Road, Lewiston, NY)

(716) 298-2385 or (716) 298-2296

All sessions are held on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

• April 14, 2010
• May 19, 2010
• June 16, 2010
• July 21, 2010
• August 18, 2010
• September 15, 2010
• October 20, 2010
• November 17, 2010

Individualized Teaching

Learning continues with a series of essential, individualized follow-up teaching appointments (personal instruction on use of the system and complete chart review). At each private follow-up, the FertilityCare™ Practitioner tailors the system to your specific needs.

These sessions are recommended five times during the first three months of use and an additional three times over the remainder of a year. Subsequent follow-ups are recommended every six to twelve months as needed. Your professional FertilityCare™ Practitioner is also available for consultation between sessions should any questions arise.

Additional Services

In addition to the introductory classes, the Catholic FertilityCare Centers of WNY also offer:

• Instruction on the Creighton model to individual couples
• Mother/Daughter and Father/Son classes
• High School Chastity Programs
• Marriage Prep Classes (Pre-Cana)

Staff from the Catholic FertilityCare Centers of WNY are also available to meet with:

• PTA Groups
• Parents Groups
• Confirmation Classes (Chastity Education)

More Information 

For more information about Catholic Health’s family planning services, click here to email the Catholic FertilityCare Centers of WNY or call our HealthConnection line at (716) 447-6205, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday - Friday.