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Getting started

Would you like to join the many women who are looking for natural birth control alternatives and holistic women’s health options? First, you will need to choose the fertility awareness method (FAM) or method of natural family planning (NFP) that will best fit your needs and lifestyle. Then you can find an in-person or online class by contacting one of the instructors listed for the method you’ve selected. The following information is only for education on fertility awareness-based methods and not a medical recommendation. Please refer to each method’s website to make an informed choice for your personal health and family planning needs.

Medical considerations

If your goal in using a fertility awareness method is to get help with women’s health issues such as PMS, ovarian cysts, irregular bleeding, infertility, or recurring miscarriages, we recommend the Creighton Method or FEMM. Each of these is a highly individualized and methodical approach for learning to chart, which, with the help of an instructor and/or medical professional, can function as a tool aiding in the diagnosis and treatment of certain health conditions.

If you’re trying to avoid or achieve pregnancy

  • Are you someone who has a fairly regular morning routine and likes the simplicity of technology? The Marquette Model uses ovulation test kits and electronic fertility monitors to measure reproductive hormones in the urine.
  • Are you someone who likes a regular morning routine, and reassurance about what’s going on with your body? The Couple to Couple League’s Sympto-Thermal method is a good fit because it involves reading two signs every day: basal body temperature and cervical mucus. CCL’s STM is taught by couples who practice it, which makes it a great way to understand a couple’s perspective on how to implement this particular method.
  • Are you someone with a more flexible morning schedule? The Ovulation Method mainly checks cervical mucus, which is done at anytime throughout the day. Three main groups teach this method:
    • Billings Ovulation Method®
    • Creighton FertilityCare is especially recommended if you have a more complicated cycle, and want a lot of support in implementing the method in your daily life. It’s also the most expensive method (although it is still more affordable than most forms of birth control, and has benefits that birth control does not).
    • Family of the Americas
The following organizations teaching fertility awareness methods have been selected by Natural Womanhood because they are evidence-based and equip each woman to read her body’s unique signs of fertility. These organizations also teach women and couples more than just a technique: they also offer guidance to couples on how the method can enrich their relationships. The links below will lead you to each organization’s national directory of providers, where you can find a local or online teacher trained in that particular method.

Billings Ovulation Method 

Billings Ovulation Method™ teachers offer individual, confidential assistance either face-to-face, or via their telephone or internet teaching service. BOM has an extensive international network of instructors.

Boston Cross Check

Boston Cross Check (BCC) is a modern, flexible form of natural fertility management. Standard protocol options incorporate various combinations of cervical fluid, basal body temperature (BBT), and hormone tracking via the Clearblue fertility monitor, with alternate options for tracking LH and PdG. BCC offers live, remote sessions for individual clients/couples. Course offerings include the Method Instructional Program (MIP) which provides general protocol options, Postpartum Breastfeeding support, and Perimenopause. Course fees, structures, and materials are standardized. Learn more about BCC instructors and training options here.

ChartNeo

Chart Neo takes proven elements from the top Fertility Awareness Based Methods and brings them all together in one place for women’s health, family planning, and infertility evaluation. Chart solo, or connect with an instructor to learn or refine your skills.

Creighton FertilityCare 

Learning the Creighton Model System consists of an Introductory Session and a series of follow-up teaching sessions (8 the first year, then 1 every 6 to 12 month). The system is tailor-made for use by each individual couple through a series of teaching sessions conducted with a trained FertilityCare™ Practitioner or FertilityCare™ Practitioner Intern. These teachers are trained in a 13-month Allied Health Education Program that is designed to help them meet the client’s particular needs.

Couple to Couple League 

The Couple to Couple League teaches the Sympto-thermal Method and offers three options: live onsite classes, live online classes, and self-paced online classes. Their live course consists of three classes spaced about one month apart. The course fee is the same no matter the type of course you choose, and each includes: ongoing personal chart review & consulting with a Teaching Couple, a Student Guide, a digital basal thermometer, a chart booklet and duplicates, a subscription to the student e-newsletter, a six-month subscription to CCL’s charting app CycleProGo, and a one-year subscription to CCL’s award-winning magazine, Family Foundations. Teachers are volunteers who are trained extensively and are married couples who practice the method themselves and teach the courses together.

Family of the Americas

Materials are available in several languages including Spanish and Vietnamese, and include the use of a simplified system of color stamps and stickers. Couples are encouraged to attend instruction as early as four to six months before marriage. Follow-up chart reviews may be scheduled twice a month for the first three months and as needed until the user understands the application of the Ovulation Method.

FEMM

Fertility Education & Medical Management (FEMM) offers a user-friendly charting app, charting instructors, and medical support for teens and women.

Marquette University Method

The Marquette Method, a highly effective sympto-hormonal method of charting, is available for instruction online and supported with an online forum where you can get answers to your questions. This method uses an electronic fertility monitor (such as ClearBlue) to measure urine hormone levels at home, together with observations of cervical fluid, basal body temperature, or other biological indicators of fertility. Classes can be found here and here.

NFP International

Provides an online study course of NFP and a method called Ecological breastfeeding, a widely used method of breastfeeding used to postpone pregnancy.

SymptoPro™ Fertility Education from Northwest Family Services 

Northwest Family Services offers a network of certified SymptoPro™ providers in most US states. Learning options include in-person instruction as well as online self-paced learning. No matter how you choose to learn, you will receive free, ongoing support from your certified instructor for the rest of your reproductive life. Instructors are trained and fully equipped to handle any special circumstances a client may have. NaProTECHNOLOGY (Natural Procreative Technology) is an innovation in women’s health science that monitors and maintains a woman’s reproductive and gynecological health. It provides medical and surgical treatments that cooperate completely with the reproductive system. The Creighton FertilityCare Networks offers a network of affiliate medical consultants trained in identifying and treating the root cause of infertility and other women’s health disorders using the Napro Technology approach. FEMM is a women’s health program that teaches the link between hormones and health, and how to monitor hormonal and other vital signs of reproductive health. Their program includes medical management and protocols to treat reproductive health disorders. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are providing a list of physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and nurses who can help you address a number of cycle dysfunctions and women’s health issues by telehealth. These physicians are not only versed in fertility awareness-based methods, but they have also been trained to treat women based on an understanding of their cycle. Their approach of medicine is also called Restorative Reproductive Health because it aims at finding and treating the cause of cycle dysfunctions in order to restore healthy cycles and fertility. Click here to find Doctors for Natural Womanhood, a list of medical professionals who believe in fertility charting and natural birth control as better medicine. They contribute financially to Natural Womanhood so that more women will be informed of their options.