Evaluations from Couples Taking a Natural Family Planning Course

November 4th, 2012

At the end of teaching our NFP course, John and I are told by the couples that they are amazed at how much they have learned.  One of our teaching couples shared their evaluations with us and I would like to share them with you.

Here are the evaluations from one NFPI course:
**We learned how to observe & chart in order that we may plan our family in the most natural way, the way God intended.
**Learned that breastfeeding can slow down ovulation.  Great class; was first against or scared about breastfeeding; now I learned all the benefits and I am all for breastfeeding
**Enjoyed the presentation; discovered how my body reacted after taking the pill for the last 5 years; learned more about my cycles after 2 months off the pill  (She had little mucus and delayed ovulation; then it was more normal with mucus patch and an earlier temperature rise.  She is marrying late and hopes to conceive on her honeymoon.)
**Awesome info!!! great job 🙂
**Talk and stress more on abstinence as 100% birth control especially as this is a “pre-marriage” class!!!
**We have a better understanding as to what NFP is; also, we now know how to prevent pregnancy if we have a serious reason not to conceive; we would have liked more Breastfeeding information, perhaps a whole class!!.  No changes needed; on that note, we enjoyed all the information that was given!

And evaluations from another course:
+ “We learned how to plan our family, and learned how to check when I am ovulating, and it was so fun and exciting when it happened the first time.”  🙂
+ “I loved coming to class.”
+ “We really enjoyed this class with all the information you have given us and we have decided to do NFP.  We love the whole concept about it.”
+ “Very good information on how to chart.  Knowing your body better.  Great information on breastfeeding.  Great information on fertility.”
+ “I believe this is a great class that everybody should know about because there is nothing better than it being natural.”
+ “A vast  knowledge on NFP – it is a different way of planning your family that we did not know of; I think it is good to have taken this class to get a new aspect on how to plan your family.”
+ “We got a lot of useful information on monitoring our bodies so we can prevent pregnancy or cause it.”
+ “This was very informative.  I learned a lot about my body’s natural signs for family planning – thank you.”

Anyone can take the online NFPI home study course.  The course follows the teachings in the NFPI manual and is taken by email.

Sheila Kippley

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Natural Family Planning Memoirs

October 28th, 2012

Battle-Scarred: Justice Can Be Elusive (memoirs by John F. Kippley)

The following is a recent book review at Amazon.com by a person previously unknown to the Kippleys.

This book is a lesson in forbearance and an excellent reminder about prudence. I have read and enjoyed the Kippleys’ work for over 20 years. John’s covenant theology of sexuality is beautifully expressed and easy to understand. His work drew me to become a member of the Couple to Couple League (CCL). I believe every member of that organization would be interested in reading this book.

CCL has moved away from certain key elements of the Kippleys’ system of natural family planning instruction, called the Triple Strand. The Triple Strand consists of the three concepts the Kippleys brought to the founding of CCL in 1971:
1. Ecological breastfeeding as a distinct form of natural baby spacing. It has now been further standardized as the Seven Standards of eco-breastfeeding.
2. The covenant theology, which is more completely stated as the renewal-of-the-marriage-covenant theology.
3. An open-to-choice version of The Sympto-Thermal Method of systematic NFP oriented to reducing abstinence as much as possible according to the evidence. All the common signs of fertility are taught, as well as rules that attempt to maximize the benefits and minimize the limitations of each of the signs.

I pray for the return of CCL to these core elements upon which the organization was founded. I can think of no legitimate reason to have removed/altered them. The excuse of “simplicity” is insufficient to justify these changes. The method was easy to learn and complete the way the Kippleys formulated it. The reformulation loses theological clarity as well as informed choice among the widest range of practical options.

These elements, especially Kippley’s covenant theology (simply & beautifully expressing the Truth of God’s plan for human sexuality) are precisely what drew me to & kept me with CCL.

It is heartening to read that the Kippleys have the fortitude to have founded Natural Family Planning International in order to continue their instructional material & methods.

I do not personally know the Kippleys, but I have come to know them through their published work and have deep respect and admiration for them. I will be eternally grateful for their message of Truth about marriage and for providing the practical means of living out that Truth.

Amazon reviewer for Battle-Scarred, October 12, 2012

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Teaching Natural Family Planning to the Poor

October 21st, 2012

Ecological Breastfeeding
For the poor and illiterate, ecological breastfeeding is God’s way to space babies.  Recently mothers in Ghana who were taught through song and instruction to exclusively breastfeed their babies soon discovered that breastfeeding not only gave them healthier babies but also gave them natural spacing.  Our studies with American mothers who do ecological breastfeeding have found an average duration of breastfeeding amenorrhea (no periods) of 14.5 months.  Certainly similar results would be found among breastfeeding mothers in other countries, especially those who still follow the traditional ways of keeping their children with them.

Sympto-Thermal Method (STM)
We believe that NFP International has the most complete program for NFP since we teach all the common signs of fertility plus eco-breastfeeding.  Those who teach only the mucus method frequently claim that it is easier to teach.  It may be easier to teach, at least in theory, but that certainly doesn’t mean that it is easier to use or is equally effective.  In the one comparative study of the STM and the mucus-only method, the study was closed much earlier than expected because it became clear quite early that the mucus-only system had a much higher unplanned pregnancy rate than the STM.

Couples Should be Taught All Their Options
We believe all options should be taught and then let the couple decide what fertility signs they want to use, and some or many couples may choose to use only ecological breastfeeding to space their babies.

One Advantage to Teaching the Poor
The NFPI teaching system does not require expensive equipment.  Daylight is sufficient.  That is, you can teach directly from the manual, Natural Family Planning: The Complete Approach.  Students can have the same manual in their possession. You don’t need PowerPoint or slide projectors or even a chalkboard.  The truly poor can download this manual for free at the home page.  Otherwise, a $10 donation is requested for the download of the manual.  Anyone can download free charts also at the home page.    Some might say that a thermometer costs something.  That is true.  But when my husband spoke to Mother Teresa, she told him that some of her sisters taught the temperature sign.  So apparently the use of a thermometer was not an obstacle to teaching NFP among the poor.

Sheila Kippley

Posted in Ecological Breastfeeding, NFP, Sympto-Thermal Method | 2 Comments »

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