Hi guys,
I just thought I would mention this topic that is often misunderstood, neglected or a bit stigmatised.
Note: I am not talking about "the rythm method"!!! NFP is based on up-to-date biology, not outdated rules of thumb 😀
Anyhow, my wife and I are about to finish qualifying as volunteer NFP teachers so if you have any questions about this alternative to contraception, feel free to ask (I mean questions, not rants about how bad it is - although if you genuinely want to know why modern people still use NFP when it is meant to be so bad, please feel free to ask that).
In my experience it is totally (almost scarily) reliable, admittedly takes some study and hard work, but is way cheaper, more personal and healthier than contraception (and more exciting). Plus, it means you have to seriously talk and plan everything together as a couple which I hear is meant to be a good thing?
When we started seriously learning it I was a bit disappointed that I'd never heard about this before - even though it is about as it is no more difficult to follow than GCSE biology, so 6th-formers or college kids could learn it, and could easily be provided free on the NHS (as a lot of other less essential things are?!).
Not relevant to me (see my other post a couple of minutes ago), but curious to know more if you can explain it?
Well, in a few short words, it's the opposite of contraception, in that with contraception you need to modify how your body works or somehow stop some of its functions; with NFP, you go with the grain of how human fertility has evolved and take control by understanding rather than trying to change it.
Basically, women's fertility can be VERY accurately predicted by monitoring one or more "symptoms", the main one being a simple temperature test you can do with a digital thermometer (in your mouth) each morning, plus, let's say, a couple that your wife will prefer to do in private (but not very intrusive)...
You know to within something like 98 % that certain days will be fertile and others absolutely not.
We used it to plan a reasonable space between our two kids... the month when we decided "OK, this is it" to try for our second, we noticed the signs on the chart (you can use a simple pen and paper or a fancy electronic one if you really insist) almost immediately... so I always laugh if I hear anyone say this is not accurate...
Hi
I have heard that this can be very effective method of birth control.
You have to rember that couples trying to have a baby use the exact opposite of NFP to increase the chances of conception!!
GTTS
Hi GTTS,
yes, another cool thing about NFP is that it's based on getting to know your fertility as a couple, and using that knowledge either to aim for pregnancy or to postpone (we don't use the term "avoid" as there is always a tiny chance of pregnancy even when virtually zero).
So actually you can be aiming to get pregnant by deliberately using the absolutely most fertile times, and still be using NFP...