Natural Family Planning (NFP) is the general title for the scientific, natural, and moral methods of family planning that can help married couples either achieve or postpone pregnancy.
NFP methods are based on the observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman’s menstrual cycle. No drugs, devices, or surgical procedures are used to avoid pregnancy.
Since the methods of NFP respect the love-giving (unitive) and life-giving (procreative) nature of the conjugal act, they support God’s design for married love!
Clinical Research & Practices
Each year during the anniversary of the promulgation of Humanae Vitae (July 25th), when the Church formally declared the use of contraception specifically as a means of family planning to be gravely sinful, Mother Church strives to bring a greater awareness to the both spiritual and physical benefits of fertility awareness-based methods during Natural Family Planning Awareness Week.
Knowing that every 1 in 6 people experience the profound pain of infertility or miscarriage, the Church recognizes that we have been in dire need of scientific advances to aid married couples who are struggling, yet desire to bring life into the world by their love. In Humanae Vitae, St. Pope Paul VI calls upon scientists and medical professionals to research and employ methods that are primarily focused on the health of the whole human person, body and soul. Having access to these methods is where the rubber meets the road, and we at St. Mary are excited to share a particularly impactful one with you as we celebrate NFP Awareness Week.
For the July 2026 episode of our Catholicism 101 podcast, Catholic physician Dr. Danielle Koestner of FEMM joins Emily to share the clinical research and practices that not only gave rise to various NFP methods, but are able to correctly diagnose and treat the underlying health issues causing infertility, miscarriage, and much more. Standing for Fertility Education and Medical Management, FEMM exists to advance the standard of care for women’s health whatever state of life a woman may be in. The evidence-based methods that FEMM employs clinically come directly from the research arm, the Reproductive Health Research Institute (RHRI)
