Fertility awareness-based methods of family planning, also known as natural family planning or fertility appreciation, enable family planning without hormones or barriers. At MyCatholicDoctor, our team of fertility awareness educators and specialized physicians teach many different methods of family planning to educate and support you.

Your body sends you many different signs and signals of the status of your fertility. By working with an instructor, you can understand what your body is trying to tell you and make adjustments as needed for your health.

The more information you have, the more knowledgeable you are about your health in general. Remember that God stewards our bodies to us. It is up to us to use the gift of health to continue to spread his goodness and word. 

Fertility Awareness is for everyone! Single, engaged, married – it is never too late to begin to understand more about your body. Charting your cycle and understanding your fertility is the responsibility of every woman, whether you are planning for a pregnancy or not. The good news is that charting your cycle doesn’t have to be difficult. With anything new in life we learn, it takes time to understand, but once you understand the fundamentals, you will be equipped with the knowledge to take on your fertility as you move forward.

Fertility awareness methods use biomarkers such as cervical mucus, temperature, or hormonal testing (such as LH, estrogen and progesterone) to track fertile and infertile times during your menstrual cycle or to use as a tool to diagnose menstrual abnormalities.  These are natural ways to monitor your cycle, have no medication side effects, and work with the woman’s body to understand her fertility.

        ◻️ Cervical mucus can be charted through visual observations and a physical examination. Changes in                  cervical mucus reflect the hormonal changes that women experience during their menstrual cycle.

        ◻️ Basal body temperature is increased when rising progesterone can be detected after ovulation.

        ◻️ Short, regular, and long cycle days can be indicative of something not totally right in the cycle.

The most important thing is to choose a model that is right for you and fits your lifestyle. Our providers can work with you to find the right model to start with. If you find the method you chose just doesn’t work for you, don’t be discouraged. There are many different methods and we encourage you to explore another method that is right for you.

Starting an initial visit with one of our providers who will help you in deciding what method works best for you and your spouse.

We bill your insurance for natural family planning services! Or, choose our low cash price options. 

If you are struggling with infertility, please know of our special prayers and intentions for you. 

1 in 8 couples struggle with infertility. We know it is a heavy cross to carry. At MyCatholicDoctor, you are never alone in this journey.

Springs in the Desert is a Catholic organizations that provide infertility support to overcome the suffering that happens when struggling to conceive.

Dr. Craig Turczynski is an expert in the field of reproductive physiology, having formerly run an IVF lab. He left IVF and now helps couples who desire to achieve pregnancy while under the guidance of the woman’s physician. He will teach and coach the couple on use of the Billings Ovulation Method® or review other charting data and help them identify the peak period of fertility. When couples are experiencing infertility and one or both of them have an endocrine or metabolic issue, he will become a member of the health care team to expedite successful treatment.

The Creighton Model (CrM) is a natural method of family planning based on a woman’s observations of her cervical fluid or mucus

FEMM is another type of Restorative Reproductive Medicine, and stands for Fertility Education and Medical Management. It is a specific way to treat reproductive and endocrine disorders in women’s reproductive abnormalities and includes specific approaches to diagnosis and treatment of the underlying condition.

The Sympto-Thermal Method (STM) is a natural and healthy fertility awareness based method (FABM) of family
planning that makes use of a woman’s observations of her cervical fluid, basal body temperature (waking temperature)
and other biological signs (e.g., changes in the cervix) in order to identify the fertile and infertile times of her cycle.

As one of the first methods of natural fertility awareness to utilize the three major signs of fertility, with a choice of at-home hormonal monitoring, cervical fluid, and temperature tracking, BCC is an ideal choice for women looking to blend the tried and true with the latest technology!

The Billings Ovulation Method® (BOM) is a natural or fertility awareness based method (FABM) of family
planning, based on a woman’s observations of her cervical mucus or fluid. Research shows that this is a reliable signal because the cervical secretion is essential for a woman’s fertility. By learning to identify the mucus
patterns that indicate infertility and fertility, she will know when pregnancy is possible.

The Marquette Model uses an electronic fertility monitor, a device a woman uses at home to measures hormone
levels in her urine to estimate the beginning and end of the fertile time in a women’s cycle. The information from the
monitor can be used with observations of cervical fluid, basal body temperature, or other biological indicators of
fertility.

While signs like temperature and cervical mucus changes are recorded daily on an NFP chart, women can detect and include the identification of fertile hormones by using a digital fertility tracker such as the Mira Fertility Plus.

The Catholic Church recognizes that many couples struggle to conceive. Infertility and other women’s health concerns can be treated using Restorative Reproductive Medicine. Restorative Reproductive Medicine identifies the problems and cooperates with your fertility cycles to correct the condition, maintain your human ecology, and sustain your procreative potential. Restorative Reproductive Medicine can be used to treat infertility, abnormal bleeding, abnormal hormone conditions of the menstrual cycle including premenstrual syndrome and recurrent ovarian cysts, and postpartum depression.  Restorative reproductive technology uses both medical and surgical approaches.

Natural Procreative Technology (also known as NaProTechnology) is a type of Restorative Reproductive Medicine. There are also other methods of RRM, including FEMM and others. At MyCatholicDoctor, you can conveniently and privately connect online with a physician or advanced practice nurse who is specially trained in RRM.