Top 10 Reasons to Use NFP
iuseNFP August 5, 201210. It’s free. With NFP there’s no copay, doctor’s fee, or monthly costs. There are no trips to CVS to fill a prescription or pick up another box of condoms. All that you really need is your body. While there may be a small fee at the beginning for classes, even those can be waived.
9. It doesn’t cause cancer. One of the active ingredients in most hormonal contraceptives is estrogen which has been classified by the World Health Organization as a Class 1 carcinogen. What’s a Class 1 carcinogen, you ask? It’s a chemical with sufficient evidence proving it’s carcinogenicity to humans. Other chemicals that share this distinction are arsenic, asbestos, silica dust, and tobacco. Another chemical that is in Depo Provera (the shot) is depo-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) which has been linked with a 2.2 increase in breast cancer.
8. Couples using NFP report having more sex than couples that use contraception. No lie. A study by Family of the Americas proved this fact. This result multifactorial but reason number 7 probably has a bit to do with it.
7. It doesn’t kill your sex drive. Seriously. When a woman ingests excess exogenous hormones her body makes more sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) to hold on to it all. The thing about is that it’s not just specific for the hormones in the contraceptive, it instead binds the free testosterone in a woman’s body. Free testosterone is one of the main players in a woman’s sex drive, the more that is bound to SHBG the less there is to stimulate her libido.
6. It is complete healthcare. The Pill has been prescribed for a wide variety of ailments, from something as minor as acne to as serious as polycystic ovarian syndrome. That would be great if the pill actually had the capabilities of curing these diseases. Instead the pill supplements the body with excess hormones, inducing a false state of normalcy. When a woman quits taking it her disease is still present and in some cases has progressed further because of hormonal contraceptive. Natural Family Planning utilizes Natural Procreative Technology (NaPro) to diagnose and treat these diseases to restore a woman’s body
to its natural healthy state.
5. No abortifacient properties. One of the lesser known mechanisms of action that hormonal contraceptives use is modification of the endometrial lining. This modification is caused by progesterone and causes thinning of the endometrium, and why a lot of women have lighter periods while on the pill. Thinning the endometrium is great for having light periods but not so great for implantation and considering the doses of ovulation inhibiting hormones (estrogen) have steadily decreased since coming on the market you can imagine breakthrough ovulation occurs more often. These eggs released during breakthrough ovulation have all the opportunity in the world to be fertilized and thus create a brand new, unique human being. Disrupting the growth of that child (by thinning the endometrium and making it inhospitable) is a chemical abortion.
4. It’s green. Natural Family Planning is the greenest form of family planning available today. There are no excess chemicals polluting the water, no plastic containers being pitched into landfills every month, and no latex condoms going in the trash.
3. Understanding your body. Knowledge is empowering and we shouldn’t be trapped living in ignorance of our bodies. The liberation that comes with understanding the ins and outs of your body (or your spouse’s) is unbelievable. Something as simple as checking your temperature every morning can give you insight into how stressed you are, if you’ve been keeping your diet in check, or even, God forbid, an early clue to a potentially devastating disease.
2. No side effects. As mentioned above, hormonal contraceptives can cause breast cancer. Not to be outdone but the other class 1 carcinogens, it also causes weight gain, deep vein thromboses, hepatocellular adenomas, and strokes. This medicine can quite literally kill you by solely taking the prescribed dose. NFP has no side effects to worry about and is equally effective at avoiding pregnancy.
1. It works. For couples who have discerned to avoid a pregnancy the method efficacy (perfect use) of NFP is 99.5% while the user efficacy (typical use) drops a bit to 94.6%-97.9% effective. Are you wondering where oral contraceptives fall in the efficacy ranks? Method efficacy for hormonal contraceptives is as high as 99.9% while use efficacy is anywhere from 92%-98%. One of the great things about NFP is that it’s not just for avoiding pregnancy. For those struggling to conceive, NFP can help indicate the times of highest fertility. While NFP can’t guarantee a positive pregnancy test, NaPro technology has lead to higher rates of pregnancies than Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has. This is because it helps identify the cause of subfertility and more specifically corrects the problem than ART.
Comments (3)
It’s a great facilitator of meaningful conversation. We could sit and talk about the weather, or the latest movie (bleck). Or we can talk about the things that only she and I share… that barometer of our relationship that flushes out even the minor squabbles, so we can work with a clean slate every day of our marriage.
I notice this post (and possibly others) are not showing up in the blog RSS. This is how I typically keep up with these types of postings, any way to look into this?
We can’t forget the important fact that if you and your spouse can discuss NFP charting with each other you can discuss ANYTHING. Marriage itself is going to be full of awkward conversations and it is not for those with weak stomachs. Husbands get bronchitis and hack up a ton of stuff that they want you to look at or they have woodworking accidents that lead to lots of blood. Then, as soon as you start having kids there is going to be a TON of unsavory stuff to discuss. Babies get explosive diarrhea, babies fart at decibel levels to rival frat boys during the quietest part of Mass, young children tell complete strangers WAY more than you thought they knew about your marriage (I work in pediatrics- I have heard it!). Basically, consider NFP your training wheels for much harder and more uncomfortable conversations in the future. Discussing your fertility is NOTHING compared to what you may discuss later. It may be uncomfortable now, but it’s important stuff to understand and you will soon realize it’s really not that awkward in the grand scheme of things.