Teaching Nfp

[Archaeology cat]

I'll put a disclaimer saying that there's some mature content in the post.

[quote name='mommas_boy' date='13 October 2009 - 02:51 PM' timestamp='1255441882' post='1984538']
So, I'm really sorry for hijacking this thread.

This is a question from an outsider looking in: what do you mean by "what works best for our personalities"? Enrolling in classes for all of them just to find out which is "best" for us and our personalities sounds like a good way to get confused to me. So, how would you characterize the "personalities" of each of the methods?

You've said that Creighton has more of a "clinical" feel. What about for BOM and STM?
[/quote]
Sorry, I'll try to be more specific. I guess what I mean is by how scheduled you & your fiancee are, or how squeamish she is. For example, for STM, she must take her temperature at the same time every morning, before she gets out of bed, and after a certain number of hours of uninterrupted sleep (I can't remember how long it is - I'm thinking 3-5 hours, but I could be wrong). So not a problem if she's getting up at the same time every day. And I don't know if all STM users do this, but everything I see regarding STM observations for cervical mucus entail the woman touching the mucus and stretching it (if it will stretch), so she'd need to be comfortable doing that. STM users sometimes also check the cervical position (though I don't think all STM users do this), so that would require her being OK with doing an internal check. Some couples really like that STM checks multiple signs, as they feel more confident that way.

Both the BOM and Creighton are mucus-only methods. With the BOM, she would just pay attention to any sensation at the vulva as she went about her day. The only requirement is that she is upright for at least a few hours during the day, and the observations are recorded before bed. There's no set time. If she wants, she can record appearance of any mucus she sees when she uses the toilet or whatever, but the main sign is the sensation. And everything is in her own words - there's no set description to choose from. I personally like this because I was rather squeamish before having my son (childbirth really changes your perspective on a lot of things), and I rarely have the same schedule every day. Prior to ovulation, every other evening is available for intercourse. This is because the woman may notice seminal fluid throughout the day on the day following intercourse, which could confuse her observations of the mucus. After ovulation, there is no restriction on time of day or having to alternate days.

Creighton, AFAIK, is more structured. Observations of sensation are made as she wipes after using the toilet, from what I've seen. Any visible mucus is finger tested for stretchability. She then selects the picture that matches that, and that's what she records in the chart. After intercourse Creighton instructs the woman to do Kegel/pelvic floor exercises to expel any remaining seminal fluid, and to wipe until dry. (If these rules have changed, someone please correct me). The only reason I say Creighton may have a more clinical feel is because of its association with NaPro technology and being associated with the medical field more, especially through the Pope Paul VI Institute.

Hope that helps.

[tinytherese]

Let the resurrection of this thread commence!


I thought of some other questions to ask. Is it kind of a risky job to take considering how many Catholics just contracept or think that they know how to use nfp so they don't bother with learning it in a class or with an instructor? Does it just depend on the area that you live in if you get many clients or not? I brought up how I was considering teaching this with someone and she said that she knew people who taught the STM and the creighton method and that I would be basically living in a card board box. I'm certainly not expecting to make a fortune and making money is definitely a lot of money is definitely not my first concern. Heck I've considered being a catechist, but not having enough to survive is another story.

[Archaeology cat]

I'm sure a lot depends on where you are. Once I'm fully accredited I'm renewing my efforts to get the diocese to at the very least list me as an instructor, if not let me give presentations for marriage prep classes. I know in a different diocese the attitude of some of the marriage prep workers was that the couples were already cohabiting and contracepting, and they might see the presenters as old and out of touch, so why teach about NFP? Sad, really. I'm hoping I made an impression, but I certainly haven't been contacted about presenting at their sessions. (I don't care about it for me, really, but that I don't think it should be neglected, and of course they really need to talk about the Church's teaching on sexuality at these things).

ETA: I also know that you are good at getting something started if you care about it, because I know you worked a lot on getting the Chastity Club started, so I imagine you'd be very good at bugging the people until you got somewhere.

Edited November 27, 2009 by Archaeology cat