History of Natural Family Planning

There is no doubt that as civilizations have evolved, people have gained vast amounts of knowledge. Unfortunately, along the way we have lost some basic knowledge about ourselves and the workings of our bodies. The understanding of the signs the body gives us in relation to fertility is a prime example. At least three African tribes in the Australian Aborigines have been documented as using natural signs to plan their families. They did not use their temperature signs but were well aware of their cervical mucus. Such information was passed from other to daughter, just as any other vital information was passed on for their survival.

Until the 1920’s, all Christian churches opposed contraception. In 1930, the Anglican Bishops voted to remove the ban at the Lambeth Conference. Although this ban was lifted, it was done so with the understanding that artificial methods should only be used in “extraordinary circumstances”. History shows that this was not the case. Other Christian denominations soon followed suit and many birth control options became available. Pope Pius XI reaffirmed the traditional Catholic position that contraception violated the natural law. Widespread use of contraception did not enhance married life as it was hoped. Divorce rates soared and women became increasingly frustrated with the technology that was supposed to free them from their worries.

In 1929, research into Calendar Rhythm Method was being done in Japan by Dr. Kyusako Ogino and in Austria by Dr. Herman Knaus. This method predicted the time of ovulation in a woman’s cycle based on what had occurred in her previous cycles. Its lack of reliability for many women, unfortunately, gives today’s natural methods a “bad reputation”. Rhythm and NFP are different and should not be confused.

During the 1930’s, research into the effect of a woman’s cycle on her Basal Body Temperature began and is incorporated today in our current methods. Much work as been done in this field by Dr. Joseph Roetzer in Austria .

In 1950, research into the significance of cervical mucus was started by Drs. John and Evelyn Billings in Australia . Their vital work made it possible to identify the onset of fertility by monitoring mucus changes throughout a woman’s cycle. Use of this information to identify times of fertility and infertility is known as the Billings Ovulation Method. The Billings Ovulation Method was introduced to the United States in 1972.

The Sympto-Thermal method uses a combination of Basal Body Temperature and cervical mucus signs to determine times of fertility and infertility.