What is Natural Family Planning (NFP)?
Natural family planning (NFP) is a way of avoiding or achieving a pregnancy without the use of drugs or devices. NFP is a way of life in which a couple recognizes their days of fertility and infertility, and together they decide if they will engage in conjugal love or abstain. There are over fifteen variations of NFP methods that can be placed under four broad categories: Rhythm, Temperature, Sympto-Thermal, and Mucus. Rhythm (1930’s) is the oldest known NFP method. It is based on the fact that menstruation occurs about fourteen days after ovulation. Rhythm is based on a woman’s history of past regular cycles. Rhythm is 75 to 85% effective in avoiding a pregnancy. There are several versions of the Rhythm Method suggesting different numbers for calculating the fertile time of the cycle. The Rhythm Method is effective when cycles are consistently regular. The other NFP methods are up to 99% method effective in avoiding a pregnancy and are based on signs of fertility and infertility that
