When I first REALLY learned what natural family planning was, my #1 question was, why didn’t anyone tell me about this?!? I grew up VERY involved in my Lutheran church and my youth pastor did our marriage preparation/presided over our wedding. Why didn’t anyone tell me about natural family planning as being a pro-life option to use in our marriage? At Drake University, I was VERY involved in the Christian group InterVarsity on campus. Why didn’t anyone talk to me about natural family planning as an option for monitoring my health and loving and supporting my body? At Drake, I was in PHARMACY school - I took anatomy and physiology classes. I learned about many medication and non-medication approaches to health. Again, why didn’t anyone tell me about natural family planning as a non-medication contraceptive option for patients to consider? (Especially patients who had side effects from or contraindications to birth control).

When I was going through the process of joining the Catholic Church as an adult (RCIA), I read a lot of the church’s teachings (the catechism). This is where I first read the words “natural family planning.” But, I had no idea what that really meant. No one actually TALKED to me about it. Even though my husband and I were married when we went through RCIA together, no one talked to us about using NFP in our marriage. And because I had grown up Lutheran and heard this vague message that “Catholics don’t like birth control,” I just thought this was a weird Catholic thing and I would just ignore it. It literally BLEW MY MIND when I found out my body had natural signs of fertility, and that I could use those signs to EFFECTIVELY avoid pregnancy (and that there was actually science behind it!). But it was still such a long road to get there. I read “natural family planning” in the Cathechism and I ignored it. Then, we struggled to conceive and I decided I would never take birth control again. I finally had the motivation to learn what natural family planning meant. BUT, still, no one around me was talking about it! Thank God a woman in my church whom I had never met let me call her on the phone and she told me all about how she uses NFP and the difference it made in her life.

Learning to use natural family planning not only changed my life because I learned how to support my body and increase communication with my husband, but because I learned that there were natural family planning instructors and even NFP-trained medical professionals! It opened up a whole new career possibility for me and it brings me immense joy to speak to and teach others about natural family planning.

July 25th - July 31st, 2021 is natural family planning awareness week. This week is important to me because I want to be a voice spreading this GOOD news to others!!

What did you think? I want to hear from you!
Email me: emily@nfppharmacist.com
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