Natural Family Planning

What Is NFP?

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a powerful tool for engaged couples preparing for marriage and married couples to learn how to monitor their reproductive health and either achieve or postpone pregnancy by practicing periodic abstinence. An NFP course teaches couples how to observe the signs of fertility and apply simple rules to space their children without using drugs or devices. For more information on NFP visit the USCCB Natural Family Planning Page, and Natural Family Planning Outreach. For information on the benefits of NFP, visit Catholic Couples NFP.

Here in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati we offer NFP courses in a variety of approved methods. Details of each method are available on the websites linked below.

Choosing the best method for you and your fiancé(e) or spouse to learn can be tricky if you aren’t familiar with the NFP methods. To help you decide, here is a link to a short quiz provided by the Diocese of Phoenix NFP Office.

After taking the quiz, check out our list of upcoming NFP classes linked here. Please check this website regularly, as the list is being revised monthly with new classes.

NFP Awareness Week

NFP Awareness Week is July 25 -31, 2021. This year’s theme, selected by the USCCB, is “To Have, To Hold, To Honor.” The dates of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week highlight the anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25), which articulates Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, conjugal love, and responsible parenthood. The dates also mark the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne (July 26), the parents of the Blessed Mother, which has been designated by Pope Francis feast as World Grandparents Day, a fitting commemoration during National NFP Awareness Week!

Please visit the USCCB website (https://www.usccb.org/topics/natural-family-planning/national-nfp-awareness-week) for information, including homily notes, suggested Prayers of the Faithful, posters, a social media kit, articles, and more.

Couple to Couple League

The mission of the Couple to Couple League is to inspire, educate and support couples in family planning that is natural, effective, healthy and consistent with God’s plan for life, love and marriage. To find out more information on Couple to Couple and to sign up for NFP classes go to their website.

Creighton Fertility Care

The CREIGHTON MODEL FertilityCare System relies on the standardized observation and charting of biological markers that are essential to a woman’s gynecological and reproductive health. A woman can use this information for the maintenance of her health, and couples can use this knowledge to plan their family and build their future together.

Billings Ovulation Method Association

Pure and simple! Based on 50 years of ongoing scientific research, the Billings Ovulation Method is a highly effective, yet simple way to postpone or to achieve pregnancy and monitor reproductive health without drugs or devices. The Billings Ovulation Method can work effectively for women, whether they are coming off of hormonal contraceptives, breastfeeding, weaning, or approaching menopause. Regardless of the particular situation, the four simple rules of the method are the same for everyone.

NFP INTERNATIONAL

NFPI provides client and teacher education in the Cross-Check Method (also called “STM”), a multi-indexed method of NFP. Mr. and Mrs. Kippley are “NFP pioneers” and the co-founders of the CCLI. They are among the devoted Catholics who developed NFP methods in the United States.

MARQUETTE METHOD

MUCN-INFP provides education in the Sympto-Hormonal Method (SHM) also called the “Marquette Method” (MM) This approach integrates the basic information of cervical mucus with the added feature of an electronic hormonal monitoring device.