NaPro Technology®

NaProTECHNOLOGY®

NaProTECHNOLOGY® is a new reproductive and gynecologic science which has been developed at the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction. It has been constructed out of the efforts to conduct research into the natural human procreative system.

Enlightened by the work of Drs. John and Lyn Billings, the Melbourne, Australia physicians who created the Billings Ovulation Method, the work of the Pope Paul VI Institute has created a standardized modification of this system called the CREIGHTON MODEL FertilityCare™ System.

This new educational technology (which has now been in development for over 20 years) allows a woman to monitor in an easy and objective way a variety of different biological markers (bio-markers) that reflect the occurrence of various hormone events during the course of the menstrual cycle. In a sense, it allows a woman to unravel the "mysteries of the menstrual cycle."

With this information, she is given an opportunity to monitor her procreative and gynecologic health in a way which is capable of giving valid information that she can interpret and physicians who are specifically trained in this system can also interpret. She can do this while naturally regulating her fertility.

This system was developed out of the hope that natural methods of fertility regulation could be improved and made more accessible. In the June, 1998 issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, a very large study of the use-effectiveness of the CREIGHTON MODEL System to avoid pregnancy was published. This study of 1,876 couples over more than 17,000 couple months of use reveals that this system has a method effectiveness of 99.5 percent and a use effectiveness of 96.8 percent. These figures are as good or better than any drug or device on the market. In addition, the discontinuation rate is very low.

The system is not strictly one of avoiding pregnancy and it can also be used consciously to achieve a pregnancy (through the knowledge imparted to the married couple on the days of fertility and infertility). Used in this way, it is the most effective system available for achieving pregnancy.

Because it focuses on a variety of different biological markers which are generally very familiar to women (including such things as the menstrual flow and variations of it, mucus flow, dry days, the Peak day, the pre-Peak and post-Peak phases, etc.), a further understanding of these markers gives very significant insight into the woman's procreative and gynecologic health.

Such problems as infertility, repetitive miscarriage, recurrent ovarian cysts, premenstrual syndrome, a variety of different hormonal abnormalities, the effects of stress, the causes of abnormal bleeding and such things as correctly dating the estimated time of conception can all be determined from the records these women keep (what is called NaProTRACKING™ the menstrual cycle).

NaProTECHNOLOGY® is an emerging science which allows for procreative and gynecologic health problems to be approached in a way which is completely cooperative with the menstrual and fertility cycles and in a way which is morally acceptable to people of all faiths. It maintains the integrity of the human person, respects the dignity of women and is supportive to the institution of marriage.

Medical NaProTECHNOLOGY® can be used by obstetrician-gynecologists, family physicians pediatricians, internists and other physicians and training can be obtained through the Natural Family Planning Medical Consultant Program of the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction (for more information on that program see below). There is also surgical NaProTECHNOLOGY® to which a definitive textbook is in preparation.

1 Hilgers, TW and Stanford, JB: "Creighton Model NaProEducation Technology for Avoiding Pregnancy: Use Effectiveness." In: The Journal of Reproductive Medicine, Vol. 43, No. 6, June 1998.

Also See
www.creightonmodel.com
www.naprotechnology.com
www.aafcp.org
www.loveandlifeunlimited.com
www.popepaulvi.com