This is the place where women finally get the health info they deserve (and should have been given as preteens).
This is where men actually get to be involved in the process of shared fertility.
And this is where couples are given the tools and resources to discern God's will for their family.
If you've looked around my site and thought, "Why did no one teach me all this before?!" then you are in the right place.
At Pearl & Thistle, we offer TWO types of NFP education:
Option One: General NFP Information
Not sure you want to invest in NFP coaching? Just looking for some general information about options and the basics? Pearl & Thistle has you covered!
The resources below are NOT method-specific, providing basic cycle and fertility education regardless of which NFP method or biomarkers you are using. These programs do not come with any coaching or direct charting assistance, but serve as a great foundation for understanding some of the basics to help you navigate some general questions, or determine which method you might want to learn!
Human Love in the Divine Plan:
Introduction to Fertility Awareness & NFP
In two quick video segments, Christina Valenzuela offers a brief, but thorough, overview of:
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what the Catholic Church teaches about NFP
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which biomarkers can be used to identify fertility in a woman's menstrual cycle
- the various types of NFP methods, including which teaching organizations offer them
-
honest talk about the challenges and benefits of NFP
*PLUS* Digital resources to help you find a method, learn more, and connect with an instructor. It's a perfect resource for anyone who is exploring NFP for the first time!
Fertility Charting While Breastfeeding
This quick little guide will walk you through:
- why charting postpartum can be tricky
- your options for biomarkers (and which ones are the most useful!)
- when to schedule postpartum instruction
Perimenopause Prep
This is the "second puberty" course that no one really wants to take- but we all probably need to!
Whether you're brand new to Natural Family Planning or have been charting for decades, the Perimenopause Transition can pose some interesting challenges for understanding fertility!
If you're wanting to learn some general information about:
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the different stages of perimenopause
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what changes to expect with cycles
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ideas for how NFP protocols may need to adapt (and how to navigate those changes with your husband!)
Then you're in the right place!
Option Two: Personalized 1:1 Coaching
Pearl and Thistle team members all pledge to:
- teach NFP according to the standards of their method
- adhere to Catholic moral teaching with NFP (i.e., no barrier or back up methods)
- respect the instructor/client relationship by honoring the discernment of the couple and maintaining professional standards of privacy
- offer a FREE Discovery Call to help you figure out if their method is a good fit! If not, we will:
- happily refer potential or current clients to a different method.
QUICK LINKS TO VARIOUS METHODS
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a large umbrella term for any method of regulating pregnancy that uses natural fertility markers to determine when a woman is capable of getting pregnant (as opposed to blocking pregnancy altogether with contraception or barrier methods).
All NFP methods follow the same general pattern of observing and tracking fertility cues and using those cues to interpret whether or not a woman could conceive that day. Couples then follow guidelines regarding intercourse depending on whether or not they want to avoid or achieve a pregnancy. The differences among methods lie in which fertility cues they employ, how detailed the observations of those cues are, and which rules are used to determine the start and end of fertility each month (the couple’s “Fertile Window”).
If our team and/or methods don't seem like the right fit, check out these other methods, to see if one of them is right for you!
Billings
Boston Cross Check
Couple to Couple League
Creighton (Fertility Care)
Cycle Beads
Family of the Americas
Marquette Model
NFP International
FEMM
Sensiplan
Symptopro