A Catholic Introduction to Natural Family Planning
Free Online NFP Class
The Catholic Church’s teachings on sex and marriage are beautiful.
This 60-minute live online video presentation dives into the details of human fertility, the basics of Natural Family Planning (NFP), and explains the theological aspects of why the Church asks Catholic couples to use NFP in their marriage.
This introductory NFP class is designed for:
- engaged couples who are completing their pre-Cana/marriage preparation courses through the Catholic Church, and
- married couples who just want to know more about how NFP works and explore the different options.
This course will help to establish your fertility knowledge, so that you’re equipped to choose an NFP method that works for your life and your specific circumstances.
This presentation is offered monthly, on the 3rd Tuesday of every month, at 7:30pm central time. The class meets the NFP marriage prep requirement for most dioceses, and a certification of completion is available upon request.
Register using the scheduler below and we’ll send you a link to log on to the presentation.
Class Details
What: Free live online introduction to the science and theology of natural family planning (NFP)
When: 3rd Tuesday of every month, at 7:30pm central time
Where: Online, via Zoom video conferencing (use any device to attend the presentation)
Cost: Completely free
To Register: Fill out the form below and we’ll send a link for you to log in to the presentation
If you’ve already discerned that you want to use natural family planning, then you don’t need this intro class! Every year, the team of certified instructors at Vitae Fertility teach 1000+ couples how to use the Marquette Method of NFP—we’d love to teach you too. Click here to learn more about our comprehensive, personalized online NFP training classes.
Online Introduction to NFP Presentation
Registration Form
Why I Give This Talk
As a nurse, I understand the importance of teaching the science and research of NFP to Catholics.
As a Catholic, I’m all-in when it comes to the theological aspects of natural family planning.
This presentation marries my two passions, presenting participants to both the science and the theology of NFP.
I interweave my personal testimony of finding, struggling with, and then falling in love with NFP into this talk.
What Does the Talk Cover?
I start by presenting basic human anatomy and physiology as it relates to the reproductive system, because in order to understand NFP, it’s essential to understand how human fertility works.
Then I discuss what NFP is: A way of determining which days in a woman’s cycle are potentially fertile. Couples can use this information to either avoid pregnancy (by abstaining on potentially fertile days) or achieve pregnancy (by timing intercourse to occur on days in which there is the highest probability of conception.)
As I explain in the presentation, NFP isn’t “one thing.” Each NFP method is unique in how it identifies the day of ovulation and tracks a woman’s fertility.
In this NFP class, we specifically address the similarities, differences, and effectiveness rates for various types of natural family planning/fertility awareness methods, including:
- calendar methods (including the Clue and Flo apps)
- cervical mucus methods (Creighton Model, Billings Ovulation Method)
- basal body temperature methods (Natural Cycles)
- symptothermal methods (Couple to Couple League, Serena)
- hormone monitoring methods (the Marquette Method, which uses a fertility monitor)
Understanding the range of options couples have gives them information they need to be able to choose a method that will work best for their specific circumstances.
Finally, we talk about the Church’s teaching on NFP, grounded in the Humanae Vitae and St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. I answer the questions all couples have, such as:
- Why does the church ask couples to use NFP for pregnancy avoidance/spacing?
- What’s the difference between NFP and contraceptives?
- What do we have to gain from using NFP?
Though I am a Marquette Method Instructor, this talk is about the scientific and theological aspects of NFP in general, not the Marquette Method of NFP specifically.
Any Questions?
If you have any questions about my presentations, or how you can integrate this NFP presentation into your parish or diocesan marriage preparation schedule, please don’t hesitate to get in touch here, or email me directly.