Family Life Bureau - Ministry to Married Couples and Families

Natural Family Planning (NFP)

• Natural Family Planning is a method for married couples to plan their families using day-to-day observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman's menstrual cycle. NFP methods take advantage of the changes associated with ovulation, treating each cycle as unique.
• A woman needs not have "regular" cycles to use NFP. Natural Family Planning helps couples understand their combined fertility and enables them to make sound and effective decisions about conceiving a child or spacing their children.
• Couples using NFP to avoid pregnancy abstain from intercourse during the fertile phase of a woman's cycle. Couples who wish to become pregnant take advantage of the fertile time.