 |
Natural Family Planning Resources |
      |
We are moving (Feb. 2007) to a better place with no ads. Check it out!
We (Oneida County, NY CCL Chapter) will NOT ship you any of this stuff; please contact the vendors directly. You can order books from stores or on-line by their ISBN number. Oh yes, a lot of these links get moved and we don't get around to updating them, so go to the home page of the organization or vendor, and search around on their site.
Books, media, and gadgets
The
hearts point out those
products which are particularly useful, in our opinion
"The Billings Method" by Dr. Evelyn Billings
The Billingses got in on the ground floor of NFP in 1953 with the Ovulation Method, which is the most widely practiced form of systematic NFP in the world today, especially in the Third World. You can also learn via on-line correspondence course, but you really need a book handy. There's no moral or theological "stuff" in the book, which is either a crucial failing or a welcome relief, depending on your point of view.
If you're trying to GET pregnant and would like a FREE audio CD on timing with the OM, go to www.ovulationmethod.org.
"
The Art of
Natural Family
Planning" by J. Kippley (Couple to Couple League Press)
529 pp.
4th Edition, 1996, US $19.95
Postpaid
Dewey 613.9434; ISBN
0-9601036-4-3.
Check the CCL Web site
under "basic
materials" or call (800) 745-8252 (
order line only ).
Aware!
Charting software for
Ovulation Method, $15 download. This doesn't
interpret your chart, just lets you record and compare 6 cycles.
Two
simple to
use, computerized temperature recording gadgets. However, they
apparently use only the temperature sign, so it seems that long periods
of abstinence in phase 1 would be required for effective pregnancy
postponement. The failure rate is claimed to be better than 1%, typical
of temp only NFP. For pregnancy achievement, the temperature just tells
you that you're too late, so this would seem pointless and frustrating.
Other problems with them are the cost: $376 for the Lady, $547 for the
Baby. That would buy a lot of thermometers and chart paper.
The
Bible and Birth Control
by Charles D. Provan
published by Zimmer Printing, 410 West Main Street, Monongahela, PA
15063. Available from CCL
. Why the Protestants were against
contraception, and
passed laws against it. Luther, Calvin, Wesley, and dozens more quoted
here. See our Theology Page
for a similar short article under "The Christian Tradition".
"
Breastfeeding
and Natural Child Spacing " 4th edition (1999) by
Sheila
Matgen Kippley, 212 pages (CCL) ISBN 0-926412-20-5
Some
of this
is in the Art
of NFP above, but this new edition covers the subject most
thoroughly. It belongs in every LaLeche League library. Sheila got an
LLL award for it. Yes, breastfeeding DOES space babies (IF
you do
it right), and you can go right into practicing NFP, after an average
14 months of infertility. See our NFP
Primer
and Breastfeeding
page for basic Lactation Amenorrhea info.
Catholic
Sexual Ethics: A
Summmary, Explanation and Defense . Updated by
Rev.
Ronald
Lawler O.F.M. Cap., Joseph Boyle Jr., & William E. May.
Our
Sunday Visitor ,
2nd edition, 1998.
"EXCELLENT...it
is coherent and
extremely thoughful and only costs $9.95." ----Jean Gaes
"By the way the Catholic ethics book is really great....was
very
impressed with the explanation of the teachings" --Online NFP student
CCL Home Study Course , $79.95
postpaid.
Yes,
you can learn
it at home, easily. The content is the same as the CCL classes, and you
can go at your own pace and convenient time & place, but you
have
to mail in your questions and charts. You can also go to any local
class sessions for free, and write/FAX/e-mail/phone any Teaching Couple
(or CCL) with questions. This is a good option even if classes are
nearby, but at a bad time. It includes charts, electronic basal
thermometer, book,
other goodies, all you need to learn & practice NFP, plus a
year's
membership in CCL and their magazine.
Charting
Coach,
for
Windows 3.1 & up. By Family of the Americas Foundation (FAF).
Helps you
chart and checks rules for the Ovulation Method (there is no
temperature crosscheck). It's
$19.95 and you can download it as shareware from their Web page: http://upbeat.com/family/om.html
. It assumes some familiarity with the OM.
Clear Plan Easy $179 & up (plus replacement indicator strips, about $18/month). Available in many local drug stores. A pee-on-a-stick hormone tester for identifying fertile times, In the USA, it's not approved for avoiding pregnancy (probably because it doesn't work so well by itsself), but a similar unit in Europe is sold for that purpose. It doesn't confirm ovulation, and false readings could be a problem, but it's easy to use.
Recent
medical
work has shown that this and other hormone testers (like Persona) can
be of use in helping NFP users identify the fertile time. Some Clinical
data from Dr. Michael Zinaman (Loyola University -
Chicago) on the Clearplan Easy Fertility Monitor:
1.
CPEFM provides a 99% accurate detection of the LH surge
2.
CPEFM will give the majority of women 1-5 days warning of their Peak
Fertility through monitoring of E3G
3.
CPEFM will typically detect 6 days of High and Peak Fertility
4.
From cycle 2 onwards, 80% of users only needed to do 10 tests
per
cycle
If you want to learn more about the use of the Clearplan monitor with
NFP go to http://www.marquette.edu/nursing/nfp/ .
Cyclewatch is a shareware Sympto-Thermal charting app which got 4 stars from ZDnet. It is sold for avoiding pregnancy also, but no guarantees or claims of accuracy are made. From Wimoweh Software.
Der
persönliche Zyklus der Frau ("A
woman's
personal cycle") in German
Von der
Vorpubertät bis
in die Wechseljahre. Josef Rötzer, MD.
Preis: DM 36,00 EUR 18,41
Taschenbuch - 256 Seiten (1999)
Herder, Freibg.; ISBN: 345126885X
Versandfertig in 2 bis 3 Werktagen.
Dr. Roetzer in Austria is one of the
pioneers of
the Sympto-Thermal Method and founded INER, which teaches NFP
in
Germany.
Family
Planning The Natural Way ,
by Dr. Josef Roetzer is
a book we've heard about but can't track down. Dr.
Roetzer is Austrian and on the medical advisory board of CCL,
contributing one of our rules. Amazon
might have a
copy. The German original is titled NATURLICHE
GEBURTENREGELUNG
, Der partnerschaftliche Weg, Issued by Herder, Vienna, 1994.
There have been French and Polish editions.
FamPlan
2000 , for Windows 95-98. $40. Clark Consultants,
15410 SW
10th Ave., Miami FL
This
is a full STM
charting program that follows CCL rules, and gives CCL members a
discount. If you try it, let us know.
"The Fertility Awareness Handbook" by Barbara Kass-Annese and Hal C. Danzer, 1986. Printed Matter, PO box 15246, Atlanta GA. ISBN 0-89793-096-7 Another mystery. Have you read it? Write us.
"Fertility, Cycles
and Nutrition"
by Marilyn M. Shannon
Third Edition, 216 pp.,
2001 (CCL Press) $12.95 from the CCL Bookstore under
"nutrition"
Dewey 612.32
ISBN 0-926412-09-4
An
excellent book
for self-treatment of irregular or problem cycles, PMS, infertility,
etc. Based on medical studies and successful treatments. This is the
most popular book in our Chapter's lending library, and we keep one
next to the computer for answering e-mails. Some of this information
has been included in "The Art of NFP", but this continues where the
other book leaves off. If you have anything funny going on, you need
this. More info on this book, and some articles on this topic, at the CCL site. The third
edition has a new
appendix but it's more useful than your appendix. The cover is
Pepto-Bismol/Barbie pink, so you can find it when you need it..
"Fertility,
Fertility Awareness
& NFP", 2nd ed., 1996, by Elizabeth Chubb, David
& Charles,
Pub., $13.80. ISBN 0715304240 Soft Cover, 192 pages.
Available
in US and Australia from www.opengroup.com
Australia/NZ: A$27.00 Other Countries:
US$16.50
"
A fully
comprehensive source of authoritative information on understanding and
using natural family planning", says the publisher. (In 192
pages??)...This book has no large fan club that we know of.
Fertility
Friend is a place where you can get chart
interpretations
and post charts on-line for others to see. Although mainly for those
trying to conceive, it has a lot of good info on fertility awareness,
such as this
page telling you how to observe symptoms in great detail.
"
Fertility Monitor"
$95 from NFP Software, Inc. in Clarks Summit, PA. A DOS-based Sympto-Thermal Method
interpreter.
According to their data, it conforms well to CCL and LifeCycle
interpretation. The debate is unsettled among CCL folks whether these
software programs are of any use, so if you try it let us know.
General
Electric Medical Systems : their newer 4D imaging ultrasound
machines help "bring good things to life" by showing pregnant women
that the child inside them is a real human being, something abortion
providers do NOT want them to know.
(On the other
hand, ultrasounds are relatively useless to NFP users, who know
precisely when they got pregnant, and how far along they are.)
This is at heart a right to life organization, and staunchly Catholic and anti-contraception (because it leads to abortion).
.
Good
News about Sex
& Marriage , Answers to
Your Honest Questions
about Catholic Teaching
Christopher West,
Servant
Publications, Ann Arbor, Michigan : (marriage@archden.org)
Available
from CCL among
other places, a highly
regarded, easy reading book. Chris is also available for talks and
seminars on the book, based on Pope JP II's Theology of the
Body.
If he's in town don't miss him! The Gift Foundation
has his
audio tapes.
"Above
all it has an incredibly POSITIVE spin on it -- not a bunch of "don'ts"
but an explanation that, if taken to heart, would yield great joy, I
think." --Erin
"I
was so excited when I listened to the tape, the message is positive and
exciting....I feel that I have much more joy in following the Church's
teaching now that I understand it more fully. Everyone,
listen to
this tape and read the book!! --Dawn.
Hormone Heresy: Estrogen's Deadly Truth Interested in how hormones work, and why you should not fool with them? The drug companies do not want you to read this long article from Nexus Magazine, which came out before the recent panic about HRT. Still, millions of women are on stronger doses of the same hormones for contraception!
"An
Introduction
to the Sympto-Thermic Method of Natural Family Planning "
by
Bill Cogan.
No ISBN number.
Pub. by Cogan
Productions 555 W. Illinois Ave, Aurora,
IL 60506
Copyright
1986. Tel:
708-896-6555
Basic
intro
pamphlet to NFP, with good pictures of mucus changes. Videos
in English or
Spanish for $18.75 plus $3.50 S&H.
Kuhar
Konsultants is another
on-line vitamin &
mineral shop, but this one caters especially to the infertile, carrying
Optivite and other similar formulations for optimizing fertility and
stimulating ovulation. They also have a lot of good nutrition
information on-line.
League of St. Gerard The Redemptorists in Canada have info on St. Gerard, the
patron saint of mothers and mother wanna-bes. A good guy to have on
your side.
Love
and Fertility,
by Mercedes Wilson.
Second edition, 1986, paperback, ISBN: 0-9633125-0-2. About $20 from FAF
" This is an excellent book to learn the foundation of "The Ovulation
Method" (AKA Billings). Very good illustrations. The beginning student
definitely needs to supplement this basic information with other
resources (classes, other books, etc.) to apply this knowledge to her
specific situation. This book is written is very simple language (even
a junior high student could comprehend it, IMO)" --- Donna, in Livonia (that's not a country, it's west of Detroit)
Love
One Another
, John Marshall. London: Sheed & Ward, 1995. A British book from an early BBT pioneer
which
explores the psychological effects of NFP in an unbiased way (says the
blurb). Sounds like a good read for the unchurched. He was a
member of the 1963 papal commission that voted for the Catholic Church
to change its teaching on contraception (but seems to have mellowed a
bit?).
The Missing
Cornerstone:
Reasons why couples choose NFP
"In
a society where instant gratification and materialism are idolized,
love is often misconceived as merely getting what you want when you
want it. The contraceptive mentality transfers that
misconception
into married love, betraying the true meaning of sexuality and
poisoning the heart of the family. In recent years, many
married
couples who used contraception have been waking up to this, and finding
a healthy, effective alternative to responsible parenthood in Natural
Family Planning. This volume gathers the testimonies of 44 such
couples. Each couple has traveled a unique path, but they
have
all discovered the same wonderful reality: true joy in
marriage
and family life comes not from getting, but from giving, from
undertaking the adventure of authentic, generous love. "
$12
from
Circle Press, USA or Canada 888-881-0729
or
203-230-0729,
cif@familink.com
"Nature's
Method" interactive CD-ROM on Ovulation Method, with Charting
Coach
software, $24.95 from Family
of the Americas Foundation
"The
New No Pill, No-Risk
Birth Control." by Nona Aguilar. NY: Rawson
Associates, 1986.
ISBN#
0-89256-299-4 and 0-89256-300-1 $17 (pbk)
This book teaches a
simple STM. Nona got interested in NFP after doing
research on
the marriage building effect of NFP. She's a fascinating
speaker
on this topic, too. The book, well, it was new 20 years ago, but there are better ones now.
NFP e-Charting Suite for Windows (requires .Net from Microsoft). A complete STM chart program ....whoops, he's got some legal issues to straighten out, so it's on hold right now. 
NFP for Palm OS 3.1 Chad up in Toronto figured you can practice NFP for free so he wrote this FREEWARE so you can keep your chart on your Palm. It does Sympto-Thermal using Toni Weschler rules. The website has a list of inferior NFP software, Palm and PC, most of which costs money.
Open Embrace: A
Protestant Couple Rethinks
Contraception by Sam and Bethany Torodes, Wm.
Eerdmans
Publishing. Check
out this long excerpt which they let us have, that's really the meat of the whole book. The book's not
too long, yet packs a whole lot
of good explanation of how to make a great Christian marriage.
"The Protestant Reformers...were fierce foes of contraception. But over the last seven decades, many of their spiritual descendants succumbed to modernist sexual heresies. The Torodes chart a path back to faithfulness, trust, and the fullness of Christian love."--Allan Carlson
"....wisdom from the Bible and the Christian past to challenge conventional views on contraception. Sweetly written and solidly argued, this is a head-clearing, heart-warming read." —J.I. Packer
Update: lately the Torodes did a sorta-about-face on contraception, saying it's OK if NFP is too tough. Kind of like the seed that fell on rocky ground...well, anyway there's a good article in the Richmond Catholic Diocese NFP Newsletter about their apparent change of heart, refuting their new arguments.
Optivite is a vitamin
supplement tailored to maximizing fertility and treating PMS, luteal
phase problems, and some other cycle problems. Recommended by Marilyn
Shannon and other nutritional experts, and gets lots of good buzz in
the infertility and NFP news/chat groups. vitaminsandherbsforyou.com
seems to be cheaper than Kuhar
; 180's for $9.90 and 252's for $13.70. You might
even get a good deal at the local discount drug store, if you get it
ordered for you. Read
FC&N before swallowing.
Ovarian Monitor
Using a urine sample, it
checks
estrogen and progesterone levels so you can determine ovulation.
Needs recalibration and refill of the reagents occasionally. This
may be the future of NFP....if Dr. Len Blackwell in New Zealand can get
it productized better. Or, maybe not.
Persona Fertility tester, a gadget for measuring hormone levels and thus detecting ovulation. No other symptoms are measured. Not approved by US's FDA. In the UK, costs £65 plus £10 a month for detector sticks. They aren't real open about how this thing really works, but they claim a 94% method effectiveness, which is a lot worse than the STM (they've been sued in the UK), but it's a no-brainer.
A
Preachable Message from BOMA. Pastors!
Get this book if you don't know what to say (or why) about NFP and
contraception. Testimonies from 32 priests, sample homilies, a list of
scripture citations over the liturgical year, lots of ideas. Flocks,
get this for your shepherd,
maybe you'll hear that most rare of all locutions, a sermon on
improving marriage through NFP.
$9.95 from BOMA USA
or CCL
.
Prophet and Priests, The
Hidden Face of the Birth Control Movement by Ann
Farmer, $17 from
Amazon. The description says, "This
compelling
study of the origins, development and activities of the birth control
movement will prove an eye-opener to those who think of it as a force
for good." In case you're wondering, NFP is not contraception and is
way different from the goals of the "Birth Control Movement".
"Sex
and the Marriage
Covenant" by John Kippley ( CCL
)
Theology and
morality in depth. GREAT depth. New edition, Spring 2002. There's
plenty more sex & theology books available in CCL's catalog.
"Sexual Wisdom" by
Richard Wetzel, MD;
Ann
Arbor: Proctor Publications, 1998 is a non-denominational
chastity and
ethics book that received praise from Catholic,
Protestant,
Jewish, Mormon, and other community leaders.
It's
available from http://www.omsoul.com/
Sophia
Fertility Computer
saves 210 temp recordings and predicts fertility. $45; PC interface
$95. A proprietary algorithm uses low temps to compute
hormones,
ignoring disturbed high spikes. This
is popular in Japan with a million sold, but the developer doesn't want
to pay for an effectiveness study. Whether this is less hassle than
putting temps on a chart daily is up to you. You can put in other
symptoms (even biorhythms, FWIW) with the PC interface. Also
available at www.CatholicMind.com.
"Taking Charge
of Your
Fertility: The Definitive
Guide to Natural Birth
Control,
Pregnancy
Achievement and Reproductive Health " by Toni Weschler, MPH. Quill, 2001
0060937645 ,
496 pages, $23.95.
" .....it really gives you a good understanding of WHY a womans body does what it does. It is not judgmental or agenda based, other than promoting the methods as extremely safe and effective. There isn't much moral/sociological stuff but it does have a chapter on FAM in the age of AIDS. It is an easy read and has an appropriate level of information for the average reader.... I personally found this book to be very comprehensive and engrossing." --- Cathy C.
Toni Weschler's rules under FAM (Fertility Awareness Method) are the same as her NFP rules, except that a barrier method such as condoms or diaphram is used instead of abstaining during potentially fertile times. Obviously, this would not be as reliable as NFP, nor would it be acceptable to those who use NFP for religious reasons.
She
gets lots of publicity and sells lots of books, and FAM is
marginally better
than contraceptives so it appeals to a wide range of folks to which NFP
would be a total shock to their moral systems. A safe gift for that
friend of yours who's mortally allergic to any whiff of "religion" and
couldn't abide the CCL book. For a comparison of FAM and NFP, see
http://ashley.peregrin.org/FAM/FAM_NFP.html.
TCOYF Fertility
Software Win 95
& up: $29.95. info@lifecyclesoft.com
You input all your
observations and it does the work for you. This follows Toni Weschler's
rules. We've heard from folks who have used LifeCycle's
previous app and think it's helped
them learn NFP faster. And some who think it's overly complicated and
time-consuming to keep all your charts on a computer. It does
work, and is approved by the FDA .
Vitex,
a herbal treatment for PMS, excessive bleeding and short luteal phases
" At NWFS, where we teach the sympto-thermal
method,
we've been referring some women to a natural alternative popular and
well documented in Europe, it's called Vitex (from the "chaste tree")
and it works at the level of the pituitary. Dr. Josef Roetzer [NFP
pioneer] informed us of this approach. It works slowly, but
in
many women reduced PMS, promotes a stronger luteal phase, and reduces
excesses bleeding. It is available at many health food stores."
You may find it referred to as Chasteberry extract, its
common
name. It also may take 6 months or more to work, according to
people we know who have used it. Also available at Emerson Ecologics
, 30 day supply $40.
The
Way Home by
Mary Pride, Crossway Books, Westchester, IL 60153 is an older book on contraception from an
Evangelical
point of view.
WinBOM
for PCs ($30) and WinBOM for Palm ($25) are apps
developed by
the Billings organizations to do Ovulation Method symptom recordings
and chart interpretations. Downloadable demos run 30 days.
Women's Health
after
Abortion by Elizabeth
Ring-Cassidy & Ian
Gentles
Even the on-line bulletized summary
of this book
is an eye-opener.
Do you get into debates with so-called "Pro-Choice" people? Write
letters to newspaper editors? If you have a
friend who is convinced Planned
Parenthood tells the truth, get this book. $20, CDN$25 from the Deveber
Institute .
"Your
Fertility
Signals" by Merryl Winstein . 1995. Smooth Stone Press, P.O. Box
19875, St.
Louis MO 63144. $12.95 +
$1.50 postage
(USA), + 6% tax in MO. ISBN 0-9619401-0-7
(also available in
German)
A
short, simple to
understand book, but not overly thorough. Cute line drawings.
NFP Teaching Organizations
American Academy of Fertility Care Professionals Creighton Method organization which trains teachers.
BOMA
is the American branch
of the Billings (Ovulation)
organization. WOOMB (listed below) is the world headquarters
in
Australia. To look up instructors, go here
.
Couple to Couple League (CCL)
PO Box 111184
Cincinnati OH 45211
(513) 471-2000 Orders ONLY: (800)
745-8252 ccli@ccli.org
This
is the largest
US NFP organization, and, in our humble opinion, the
best.
There are over 1000 CCL volunteer Teaching Couples, mostly in the
USA. The TC
Finder has most of them arranged by state, country, or area
code. If you have trouble with that, write CCL and see if
there's a promoter nearby.
Membership
($21/yr) gets you a big newsletter (here's
some
sample articles)
full of the latest biological,
moral, and
political info. CCL also supports
mother-baby and family bonding, and pro-life, Catholic, Christian,
religious, and general moral values. Plus short pamphlets to
books and videos
on marriage, chastity, and family. For instance, there's a
great
K-8 chastity/"sex ed" supplement for religious education called"New
Corinthians",
which follows Catholic
teaching (maybe your school doesn't!)
Creighton:
see Pope Paul VI Institute below
Family
of the Americas Foundation 
Box 1170 Dunkirk MD 20754
faf@idsonline.com
(800) 443-3395 or (301)
627-3346
They
have NFP books
in 21 languages that teach the Ovulation Method, and a nice OM
effectiveness table listing a number of studies.
FertilityCare Centres of America has teachers worldwide but the list is of the USA only
The Institute for Reproductive Health of Georgetown University Medical Center has developed a new NFP method they call the Standard Day Method ( SDM ). Intended for third world countries, it seems to be a lot like Calendar Rhythm from their description. They say that recent research has identified the fertile time more precisely, but don't say how exactly. Studies have shown it to have about 95% method effectiveness, which is 5 times worse than the OM or STM, but it is a lot easier to learn. Usually, SDM systems use beads where you move a marker each day to keep track of cycle phases.
Maternal
Life
International hopes to teach
third-worlders NFP
through a bead system of counting similar to the Standard Day Method.
These are the actual beads, which they sent us and we scanned in.
432
North Main Street
Butte MT 59701
406-782-1719
6214 Rose Lake Ave.
San Diego CA 92119 (800) 40-FITCH
Northwest
Family Services
4805 NE Glisan
Portland, OR 97213
nfs@nwfs.org 503-215-6377
NFP
Sympto-Thermal Method
client and educator program. Has teachers around the USA; look them up here.
One
More Soul
directory of NFP teachers and NFP-only doctors; there's a
Pro-Life
Ob-GYN directory at the AAPLOG
Pope
Paul VI Institute 
6901 Mercy Road
Omaha, NE
68106-2604 402-390-9175
This
is the accrediting
agent for practitioners (teachers) of the Creighton Model of the
Ovulation (Billings) method. They publish a free
newsletter, Love and Life,
and
conduct much of the NFP
research in the US. Their NaProTech system incorporates NFP into
medical practice; they conduct yearly training sessions. Find a local
Creighton teacher here
.
The ethics division of the Pope Paul VI Institute publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, The NaProEthics Forum and probes the Catholic view of marriage, family, sexuality, and procreation. $15 personal subscription, $20 institutional, $18 foreign. Got moral questions? Contact the ethics director, Sister Renee Mirkes , OSF, PhD , 402-390-6600. Dr. Tom Hilgers, the Director, wrote a lot of good theological stuff to browse on their website.
Serena
151 Holland Ave.
Ottawa ONT K1Y0Y2
(613)
728-6536 (également
en français: "Planification Naturelle des Naissances" )
A
large NFP provider in
Canada, where they have been teaching the SymptoThermal Method since
the fifties. Check the phone book, or call 888-3SERENA
(888-373-7362) in Canada.
WOOMB
(World Organization Ovulation Method Billings) is the Australia-based
worldwide HQ for the Billings Ovulation Method, probably the world's
largest and oldest (1953) provider of NFP instruction. Other Billings
websites exist; this
one has good pictures of cervix and mucus changes.
Some Local Organizations
California Association of NFP is a consortium of all providers in the Golden State
Philadelphia
NFP Network
Your
one-stop NFP
center in the City of Brotherly Love. Has info on local teachers (your
choice of methods )
and class dates.
Phoenix
NFP Center
4945 East Thomas Rd.
Phoenix, AZ 85108
(602) 381-1884
China From 2000-2006 or so, some 40 thousand Billings Method teachers have been trained in China.
Japan Gadgets and software for predicting fertility are pretty popular in Japan.
Catholic Family Centre (Ovulation Method)
Sarayama 4-27, Minami-ku
Fumuoka City 815
Institut fuer Ehe und Familie
Spiegelgasse 3/8
A-1010 Wien (Vienna)
Oesterreich
Universitat Duesseldorf : Forschungsprojekt Natürliche Familienplanung: "Was ist NFP? Wiekann man NFP erlernen?"
Natürliche
Familienplanung Diozese Augsburg
NFP, Kappelberg 1
86150 Augsburg
Tel. 0821/3152-282
E-Mail: nfp-augsburg@gmx.de
Institute
for Natural Family Planning a large German NFP organization. You can download STM charts
in different formats. They're in Celsius and German, which will
confuse your kids or parents if they see them on the dresser.
England
CCL
of the United Kingdom has
a big website
in Sherwood Forest
Fertility Awareness
& NFP
Service UK
An
STM provider in
the British Isles, they have a bunch of info on NFP, including titles
of research, and downloadable STM charts (under "miscellaneous").
België, Vlaanderen, Nederland: NFP Europe Informatie over natuurlijke familie planning in het Nederlands.
Not-So-Good Stuff
Some have real possibilities for future NFP use, but much work and many effectiveness studies remain to be done.
Bioself Fertility Tester $217 in the USA . A Swiss gadget, does calendar-temperature indications of fertile times. It records a years' worth of temps, then predicts when you're fertile. It doesn't test hormones or mucus, so it should be used with the usual symptom chart. So, why not just use a ten dollar thermometer instead? It's pretty big (3 AA batteries), but the built-in speaker is pretty cool: you can download temps to your local Bioself Center (which is in Switzerland).
Cue
Electrolyte Tester, $385
A gadget that
measures the resistivity (electrical conductivity) of saliva and/or
cervical mucus, which changes near ovulation. Like the other
mucus-sampling gadgets, this is probably better for achieving
conception than avoiding it effectively (research is continuing). Seems
expensive, but it does have stainless steel probes. OvaCue
($375)
is a similar gadget.
Femta
is an Ogino-Knaus
Calendar Rhythm application. $28; free demo works for two months. Don't expect high effectiveness from this
or any Rhythm method, but they are simple. And, you need a good 6
cycles of data to use O-K Rhythm.
Microscopes
for viewing ferning patterns in saliva or cervical mucus have been sold
for a number of years. Changes in electrolytes (salts) during
your cycle cause crystallization patterns in your fluids. Studies
by NFP organizations and medical
researchers have not shown them to be consistent enough to be
used
to avoid conception. See
our NFP Primer
for some info on them. If you have a 35 - 100X
microscope hanging around, try it out to see if it works for you. Brands include: Cycle Check ($70) ; Donna Fertility Tester, $60 ; PC-2000; the Lady-free Biotester; OVU-TRAC; The LENS $29.95 800-723-0400 or 800-345-3371; Maybe?Mom (pictured) is $150 ; Ovu-Tec ($45); ( Dr. John Lee sells the same gadget but calls it Ovu-Tech ). The Woman's Window website has the best theory and pictures about the ferning phenomenon, and Ovu-Test's ($30) website is pretty good too.
Rhythm Calendars: Two places
to get an estimate of ovulation, based on your previous cycles (which are assumed to be regular). Ovulation Calendar.com is an
ovulation prediction program that uses menstrual cycle information to
generate your personal fertility calendar, and lets you choose the
gender of your baby and her zodiac sign (no guarantees) . You can set it to give you a
pop-up that tells you when to get busy. Downloadable for $29. Our advice: save your money. Ovulation Calendar.net does the same thing for free, on-line. Plus there's short descriptions of "real" NFP methods, and a downloadable .PDF chart which can be used to record all symptoms. Wesley is thinking of improving the calculator to do other methods to avoid pregnancy effectively. When he does, we'll move this program up to the "useful" categories above.
PSC Fertility Monitor is a skin conductivity meter that measures the electrolyte level in your perspiration (similar to the ferning microscopes and Cue tester above). A watch-sized wrist sensor downloads data to a PC. It's sold for achieving pregnancy only.
ZappyBaby
"A German
company is offering a new service for the modern professional woman
with little time to spend trying to get pregnant -- regular mobile
phone calls telling her when she is most fertile, for
example,
'Achtung! The five best days for love are starting,' zappybaby
Deutschland GmbH said in a statement. 'We live in
hectic times and there is so little
free time for people who want to have some nice hours together and want
to have children.' " If you don't have time to conceive, will you have time to raise
that kid? Well, ZappyBaby got zapped around 2005. Ananova
ran a similar text-messaging service in Poland, using Calendar Rhythm. Also defunct.
[Info]
Back
to the INFO page
[Home]
Home Page
[Contact
Us]
Drop a line to the Oneida County
chapter of CCL
[SiteMap]
All logos trademarks and cute pictures belong to their respective trademark holders