Can Natural Family Planning (NFP) be as Effective as Birth Control?

Natural family planning is great but I can't use it, it's too complicated. I don't have the time to learn everything I need to know to be accurate so I don't even what to try NFP. Isn't NFP just for people that want to have a TON of children? NFP just doesn't work why would I put in the effort to learn something that is going to fail?

Do any of these excuses sound familiar? You or maybe someone you know might have these concerns upon hearing about NFP. Or maybe you have heard a medical professional (Not trained in NFP) say that it just doesn't work. Well my friends I am here to tell you that it is not as scary, hard, or ineffective as you may think. According to Andrea M. Bertotti, Ph.D., and Sinead M. Christensen "only 1.6 percent of women in the United States currently use any form of periodic abstinence, and just 18.8 percent have ever tried it." 18.8 percent, which means that 81.2 percent of women in the united states are either not using anything or using harmful forms of family planning. The truth is most women do not even know there is something other than birth control, that is effective. I addressed the dangers of birth control and the shocking side effects that medical professionals are just not talking about to their patients in my post "What they never told us about birth control. And the other option.". If you haven't read it click the picture below and check it out, I was shocked to discover the dangers of birth control.

What they didn't tell me about Birth control

NFP has been used by many women and families to plan and space children. This means it is a double-edged sword, many women that struggle to get pregnant see great results by using NFP and learning more about their bodies. However, on the other side, you can use this new knowledge to avoid pregnancy too. This is why it is such an amazing tool. I can talk about why NFP is so great but let's get into the nitty-gritty, we will talk about NFP's efficacy for avoiding and achieving pregnancy.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional. The information in this post is based on my personal experience and the cited articles found below. Please consult a medical professional trained in NFP to discuss if this is right for you and your family.

Efficacy

Hitting hard right away with the big question. I will break this down into sections based on the most common NFP Methods. We will first list the correlating statistics on avoiding pregnancy and then the correlating statistics for achieving pregnancy for each method.

1. Cervical Mucus Methods (CMM)

The Billings method is a common NFP Cervical Mucus Method. This method is done by "observing and tracking changes in your cervical mucus, and using this information to pinpoint ovulation" (see more here).

Cervical Mucus chart to help identify ovulation when using the Billings or Creighton method of NFP

When a woman is ovulating the CM will be very wet and stretchy. (click the picture to read more about Cervical Mucus) When a couple uses this method perfectly the failure rate when avoiding pregnancy is 1%, with typical use the failure rate is 10%.

NOTE: When a couple is clear and determined in the plan for their family (when to or when to not have children) They are more effective. If you are not sure about the plan or are less determined to stick to it the failure rate will be higher. NFP is about communication between spouses, this plays a large role in the effectiveness of any NFP Method.

The Creighton method is another CMM method and has a lower failure rate. According to Natural Womanhood, the failure rate when practiced perfectly is .5%, and with typical use, you are looking at a failure rate of about 4%. (See article here.)

When wanting to achieve a pregnancy both the Billings and Creighton methods are very successful. In a study of sub-fertile couples or couples where IVF has not worked applying the Billings method allowed couples to achieve a pregnancy within 4.5 months on average. (Check out the article here). The Creighton method allowed couples to achieve pregnancy within 3 to 6 months. (See here)

2. Sympto-Thermal Methods (STM)

With this type of method, most women will track their CM similar to the Billings and Creighton methods. However, in addition to the CM, they will chart their basal body temperature or BBT (which is the first temperature of the day before getting out of bed). A very common program for this type of method is the Couple to Couple League. According to Facts about Fertility, this method is "99.4-99.6% effective in avoiding pregnancy (98-99% effective with typical use)" NOTE: The couple-to-couple league is the only STM, I am familiar with. I am not sure what other programs are out there. But, I have not used this method so I haven't spent the time researching the different variations.

3. Sympto-Hormonal Method (SHM)

There are a few programs using the SHM most of which are to achieve pregnancy. However, when looking to avoid the Marquette SHM Method is fantastic. An article published by the National Library of Medicine conducted a study of this method with 204 couples and the results were as follows.

"There were a total of 12 unintended pregnancies, only 1 with correct use. The 12-month "correct use" pregnancy rate was 0.6 (i.e., 99.4% effective) and the "typical use" (total pregnancy rate) was 10.6 (i.e., 89.4% effective) per 100 users."

To learn more about the Marquette method please look at the "Other Option" section of this previous article found here.

Now you might say, Natalie. Why do you use this method it has a lower efficacy than the above methods? The answer is that although the "Typical use" rate is lower overall. When you compare it to the other methods during the postpartum phase or if you are breastfeeding this method is the only one that is truly reliable. The truth is pregnancy and postpartum mess with temperature and CM and if those are not reliable the methods that use those indicators alone are not effective. The fact that the Marquette method has a monitor that tracks estrogen and Luteinizing Hormones, allows women when breastfeeding to see when their body will ovulate even if their CM and temperatures are not back to normal.

NOTE: This is not to say you cannot chart CM or BBT along with the Marquette method either. Many women chart their CM and BBT alongside the Marquette method making the efficacy much higher.

This method is truly great for anyone that is in the postpartum period and whose cycle has not started again or is still not consistent. Speaking from experience it can be very frustrating to not know when your cycle will start again while in the postpartum phase. I believe that the Marquette method will help couples in this stage of life feel less stressed as their family grows.

NFP and perfect use

Why is there a typical and perfect use? The short answer is that we are all human and we make errors.

I am going to speak on my experience here and talk about why the CMM and STM methods didn't work for me. If you are anything like me you are so tired in the morning that remembering to take your temperature before you get out of bed is almost impossible. The first thing I want to do is hardly open my eyes and stumble to the bathroom to use the restroom. This is why the STM method just was not a good indication for me of when I was ovulating or not. However, when I found the Marquette method it matched my morning routine so well that I could rely on it consistently. I tell my friends and family, "If you can remember to pee in the morning you can be effective with the Marquette Method". By placing the equipment needed next to the toilet, I am able to remember to take the "test" every day. Now, where I have had trouble is when I travel or go camping, but as long as you abstain on the day you forget to test and as long as you are still getting low readings on the monitor, you are safe to get intimate with your spouse when you start testing again.

NOTE: Again I am not a medical professional. Please find a trained professional to consult with prior to starting any NFP method.

NFP conclusion

I cannot stress this enough if you do not know the side effects of birth control, please, please look into them. So many women are being harmed by using these toxic and invasive forms of family planning. Based on the information above it is easy to see that NFP is a contender in avoiding pregnancy and with the bonus of being safe and working with the woman's body vs against her body it should be a no-brainer. If I was giving advice to a young woman I would say start by knowing yourself. Identify what will make you less effective (In my case not being a morning person and very forgetful) and choose which NFP method would be ideal for you. The best part is when you and your spouse want to start a family, you will know your body so well, and achieving that pregnancy will be much easier than coming off of birth control or not being on birth control but guessing when you are fertile or not. NFP is a great tool for women and their reproductive health. I hope to see more and more women take control and stop settling for harmful chemicals and invasive forms of birth control.

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