Natural Family Planning

Natural Family Planning (NFP) teaches women and couples to track biophysical signs of fertility to both avoid and achieve pregnancy. Tracking these signs can also help clinicians assess women's reproductive health. Learning about their cycles empowers women to achieve their family planning goals and helps them optimize their health.

When avoiding pregnancy, NFP effectiveness rates are equal to or better than some forms of contraception. Couples that use NFP report better communication, stronger relationships and higher levels of self-esteem.

There are three primary categories of NFP – ovulation, symptothermal and symptohormonal. Ovulation methods, such as Creighton and Billings, teach women to observe and interpret cervical mucus changes to identify their fertile window. Symptothermal methods, such as Couple to Couple League, also observe cervical mucus, but add basal body temperature to identify the fertile window. Symptohormonal methods, like Marquette Method, rely on fem-tech devices to measure urinary hormonal metabolites to determine the fertile window. Each method has similar perfect-use effectiveness rates for avoiding pregnancy.

Creighton Method
Billings Method
Couple to Couple League
Marquette Method

Please contact our clinic to learn more about which NFP services are provided at our clinics and in your community! For Denver, call 720-802-4950. For Northern Colorado, call 970-818-5745.

Fehring, Richard, "Efficacy of Natural Family Planning Methods" (2019). College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications. 701. https://epublications.marquette.edu/nursing_fac/701

Fehring, Richard J. and Manhart, Michael D., "Natural Family Planning and Marital Chastity: The Effects of Periodic Abstinence on Marital Relationships" (2021). College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications. 887. https://epublications.marquette.edu/nursing_fac/887