Got endometriosis? There’s a pill for that. Got polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)? There’s a pill for that. Painful periods and bad acne? Why—you guessed it—there’s a pill for that, too! If this sounds familiar, and you’re sick of the status quo when it comes to treating your PCOS or endometriosis, then you might be interested to know about treatments for PCOS and endometriosis that work with your body, and seek to heal the root cause of both these issues—as well as the infertility that often accompanies them. Many of these restorative reproductive medical treatments fall under the innovative practice known as Natural Procreative Technology (also known as NaProTechnology or simply “NaPro”).
The Pill is not a cure for endometriosis or PCOS
For most OB/GYNs, the routinely prescribed solution to a lot of women’s health issues is hormonal birth control, otherwise known as “the Pill.” But the problem with the Pill, the IUD, and other forms of hormonal contraception, is that they don’t actually address the root causes of any of the most common issues in women’s reproductive health, such as PCOS and endometriosis. While hormonal contraceptives may mask the symptoms of PCOS and endometriosis, they won’t solve them, and they may even worsen the underlying condition. Plus, birth control (whether it is hormonal or not) comes with a host of health risks and side-effects, too.
For too long, women who would never think of trying on a pair of one-size-fits-all jeans have been accepting this one-size-fits-all drug. But it’s also rarely their fault, since birth control is often the only solution offered to women for very serious conditions like endometriosis and PCOS, which often come with painful—even debilitating—symptoms.
Unbeknownst to many of these young women, there are health solutions that get to the root problems of reproductive issues like PCOS, endometriosis, and even infertility. And many of those solutions have been pioneered by something called NaProTechnology.
What is NaProTechnology?
NaProTechnology, is a medical innovation in women’s health in which doctors and other medical professionals can be trained and certified. Pioneered by Dr. Thomas W. Hilgers (director of the Pope Paul VI Institute), NaPro is:
“a women’s health science which has, as its main principle, the ability to work cooperatively with the woman’s menstrual and fertility cycle. NaProTECHNOLOGY relies on the CREIGHTON MODEL FertilityCare System (CrMS) biomarkers to monitor easily and objectively the occurrence of various hormonal events during the menstrual cycle.”
“NaProTECHNOLOGY identifies the problems and cooperates with the menstrual and fertility cycles that correct the condition, maintain the human ecology, and sustain the procreative potential.”
To put it simply, NaPro physicians work with a woman’s fertility data—gleaned from her Natural Family Planning (NFP) or Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) charts—to pinpoint and treat the underlying causes of of various health conditions. NaPro practitioners practice restorative reproductive medicine without using the Pill, IUD, or other hormonal contraceptives, which act as mere band-aids for reproductive health disorders, masking the symptoms and preventing women’s bodies from cycling altogether. NaPro-trained physicians are licensed M.D.s and D.O.s, often board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) or Family Medicine—which means that they have a unique skillset and expertise on top of all their years of rigorous medical schooling and training.
NaPro is unique, in that it works with a woman’s reproductive system, rather than suppressing her cycle through synthetic hormones. This makes NaPro truly revolutionary in the field of women’s health, and especially for women suffering from PCOS, endometriosis, infertility, and other reproductive health issues. Along with FAMs, NaPro respects a woman’s fertility and sexuality, and treats her as an individual patient with unique issues, rather than another one-size-fits-all case.
Over the past few years, along my personal health journey and since becoming trained as a fertility awareness educator myself, I have been fortunate to witness firsthand the remarkable power of NaProTechnology to address multiple issues in women’s health and fertility.
NaPro infertility treatment
A few years ago, I was successfully treated for infertility by a NaPro-trained physician. My regular primary care physician refused to diagnose me with infertility after my husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for 6 months—despite that studies have shown that 90% of couples who use NFP or FAMs to chart their cycles and have targeted intercourse when they’re fertile become pregnant by the 6-month mark of trying to conceive.
Because my doctor was using the mainstream clinical standard of 12 months of random, “unprotected” intercourse before diagnosing a couple with infertility, I could not get insurance to pay for a fertility specialist, and my husband and I felt stuck. Fortunately, after we moved a few months later, I was assigned a new family medicine physician who was knowledgeable in NFP and NaPro treatments. With the help of this new doctor and the help of a NaPro OB/GYN, I was finally able to conceive and sustain a full-term pregnancy.
One of the most important tools in NaProTechnology is, of course, your NFP or FAM charts. Although most NaPro physicians work with the Creighton model of NFP, we were fortunate to find NaPro physicians willing and able to interpret our Sympto-Thermal Method charts. Watching the changes in my charts as I underwent NaPro treatment was remarkable. It was obvious to me and to my doctors that from looking at my changing charts (and from experiencing how much better I was feeling physically) that my infertility had been a symptom of a larger hormonal imbalance. Once we identified this, the NaPro treatment easily corrected the imbalance.
Had I gone the route of an intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF) as at least one physician recommended to me to address my infertility, the larger issue causing my infertility may have never been addressed—and we could still be trying unsuccessfully to have a baby today.
NaPro treatment for endometriosis
NaProTechnology has become a game-changer in the treatment of endometriosis as well. After years of painful, highly irregular periods, my younger sister went to a primary care physician at a clinic on her college campus. This physician immediately wanted to prescribe my sister hormonal birth control to “regulate” her periods. When my sister expressed faith-based misgivings about birth control, the doctor gave her no options for alternative treatment, while condescendingly admonishing her that “the Pope wouldn’t find out” if she went on the Pill.
Thankfully, my sister had heard of my success in working with FAMs and a NaPro physician, so she knew there were other options available that could restore and protect her health and fertility.
First, my sister began working with a Creighton FertilityCare Practitioner to learn how to track and chart her cycles. From there, she made changes to her diet and lifestyle that started to make a big difference in how she was feeling. After a few months, she was able to take her fertility charts to a NaPro physician, who, after additional testing, was able to diagnose her with endometriosis (which is no small feat for a disease that can sometimes take 12 years to properly diagnose!) and to treat her surgically for the disease.
Now, my sister’s cycles are far more regular, and the intense pain she experienced with each period prior to her treatment is all but gone. But she is one of the lucky ones. Far too many girls and women with endometriosis suffer for years of pain without a proper diagnosis or real treatment, while the Pill or an IUD masks their symptoms.
NaPro treatment for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
Finally, NaPro is also making progress in the treatment of PCOS. A close friend of mine was once diagnosed with PCOS by a NaPro physician and treated surgically for the disease. While the surgery was not curative, it did provide her with temporary relief without having to resort to the Pill or and IUD, which would have prevented her from cycling altogether—which she did not want.
While she is still in the midst of her journey with PCOS, she is hopeful that future treatments with a NaPro physician and working with a Creighton FertilityCare practitioner will someday provide her with the long-lasting relief she needs—all while working to improve her fertility, not suppress it. For many, the surgical wedge resection procedure (which reduces the size of the ovaries) coupled with balancing their hormones does provide long-lasting relief of their PCOS.
Now that researchers believe they have discovered the cause of PCOS (an excess of fetal exposure to anti-mullerian hormone, also known as AMH), the future looks brighter for the many girls and women currently suffering from this disorder. There is little doubt that NaPro doctors—who work extensively to get their patients’ hormones in balance—will be at the forefront of using this new information to better their patients’ lives.
Why NaPro and other restorative reproductive medicine techniques outperform mainstream women’s health
For those who understand the value of FAMs and NFP, it’s no surprise that NaPro-trained doctors are able to understand reproductive issues more fully than those who are ignorant of charting.
After all, the hallmarks of NaProTechnology are that it is a “fertility-care based medical approach rather than a fertility-control approach,” and that it gives girls and women “the opportunity to know and understand the causes of the symptoms from which they suffer.”
Just think of the many millions of young women who come to their doctors at the age of 15 (or younger) with complaints of acne, painful and heavy periods, and other menstrual issues, and are immediately prescribed the birth control pill as the solution to their condition. Perhaps you are (or were) one of them. If so, can you honestly say that you were given “the opportunity to know and understand the causes of the symptoms” from which you suffer? Consider what happens to those same girls when they decide to have babies, and come off of the Pill for the first time in 10, 15, maybe even 20 years, and discover that their reproductive health issues never actually went away, and were signs of bigger issues now affecting their ability to get pregnant? Unfortunately, that tragic reality is all too common for millions of girls and women today.
Thanks to fertility awareness-inspired restorative reproductive medical technologies such as NaPro, and the medical protocols of FEMM, girls and women have more effective natural solutions to address the root causes of issues like endometriosis, PCOS, and infertility, among other reproductive health issues, than ever before. With the help of a doctor trained in these techniques, women can have the confidence that their treatment will improve not only their reproductive health, but their overall health as well.
When this article refers to fertility awareness methods (FAM), or natural family planning (NFP), we are referring to Fertility Awareness-Based Methods, evidence-based methods of cycle charting which can be used as effective forms of natural birth control when learned by a certified instructor.
If you’d like to read this article in Spanish, click here: “3 problemas de salud reproductiva que la NaProTecnología resuelve mejor que otras opciones.”
This article was originally published on June 28, 2018 as written by Grace Emily Stark. It has since been updated by Natural Womanhood to offer more resources. Last updated February 5, 2021.
Additional Reading:
Spotting before your period could be a sign of endometriosis
What to Do When Your Doctor Won’t Listen to You
The Links between Irregular Cycles, Birth Control, and Early Death
Understanding the Surgical Techniques Used to Address PCOS
“Is infertility treatable?” and other questions: A Natural Womanhood Infertility FAQ
