{"id":249864,"date":"2021-07-29T10:44:35","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T15:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=249864"},"modified":"2021-07-28T15:42:32","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T20:42:32","slug":"natural-family-planning-essential-skill-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/natural-family-planning-essential-skill-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural family planning is an essential skill young women should know"},"content":{"rendered":"
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July 25-31 marks National Natural Family Planning (NFP) Awareness Week. While\u00a0fertility awareness-based methods<\/a> (FABMs) of NFP<\/a> have traditionally been considered the domain of couples wanting to achieve or avoid pregnancy, that conversation is gradually shifting to include single young women seeking to monitor their own reproductive health.<\/p>\n

With the explosion of “femtech,” loosely defined as any app or technological device intended to improve women’s health and wellness, a variety of cycle tracking apps abounds.\u00a0While\u00a0there are certainly good reasons for young women in their teens and twenties to track their cycles through an app, ultimately the most benefit<\/em> comes from learning a fertility-awareness based method.<\/p>\n

Women often inadvertently cover up their symptoms<\/a> with hormonal birth control. Learning an FABM enables young women to understand what’s going on in their own bodies, to know when to seek help for reproductive issues, and to address the root causes of reproductive health problems instead of masking them with birth control.<\/p>\n

How NFP helps women understand their bodies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many young women have simply never heard about what happens\u00a0in their bodies each cycle<\/a>, and the relationship between their fertility and their whole body health<\/a>. Learning the different phases of their cycle through an FABM can help young women become more confident, because they know what’s going on in their bodies at any given time and what’s coming next. A high school junior might learn to give herself grace when studying for a big test right before her period starts. A woman in her 20s might utilize the ovulatory phase of her cycle, a time when women generally have higher energy levels and improved mood, to schedule a big work presentation or attempt a new personal record in the gym. A woman charting her cycle through an FABM can even take things one step further, optimizing<\/a> her nutrition, workouts, professional life<\/a>, and more, by “syncing<\/a>” with the phases of her cycle.<\/a><\/p>\n

NFP and reproductive health<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a 20-minute\u00a0Facebook Live video<\/a>, Creighton Model instructor Shirelle Edghill outlined the ways that learning to chart can save young women time and frustration down the road, especially when it comes to starting a family. She noted that many young women appear to have a vague sense of unease, wondering whether something is off with their cycles. When they learn an FABM, they get hard data about their health that can either confirm their suspicions, or allay their fears.<\/p>\n

“This is a real gift, knowing early on if you might have issues with your fertility,” she said. “I get the privilege of teaching quite a few women who are fairly young, in their teens or early 20s, and\u00a0without fail, they love learning to chart<\/a>.”<\/p>\n