Natural Family Planning

The Office of Evangelization and Family Life Ministries is committed to supporting married and engaged couples in living God’s beautiful plan for marriage. We currently promote six different Natural Family Planning (NFP) methods, offered through both live courses and online formats, so couples can choose the option that best fits their needs and schedules. 

For Marriage Preparation, we encourage couples to consult with their pastor or marriage preparation coordinator before registering for any classes.

Why Natural Family Planning?
The Church teaches that marital love is meant to be both unitive (deeply bonding) and open to life. Natural Family Planning honors this sacred design. Rather than blocking fertility, NFP works in harmony with the way God designed the human body.

This matters because married love is called to reflect Christ’s own self-giving love — a love that holds nothing back. By respecting both the unitive and life-giving dimensions of marriage, NFP supports couples in growing in trust, communication, and generosity with one another and with God.

If taking these courses for marriage preparation, please note that all of these courses require at least 3 MONTHS of instruction before your wedding, so early registration is important.  Additional time may be needed if your wedding is outside of the Archdiocese of Denver. Read below for further description and registration information on the different options available to you.

***For Marriage Preparation, you need only to complete ONE of the options listed. ***

The Methods

This course is taught in a private setting, one-on-one with a certified teacher. The course consists of an introductory session, which provides primary instruction on the method and 5 follow up sessions spanning over 3 months. These follow up sessions occur every two weeks and include personalized instruction and chart reviews. Additional sessions are recommended following the wedding.

The Billings Ovulation Method is based on the primary observation of sensation as well as observed cervical fluid. This method has four simple rules that are applied within the woman’s cycle (the first three rules are used before ovulation and the fourth rule is applied once the fertile phase is over), based on a couple’s desire to achieve or postpone pregnancy.

This program is offered in the Archdiocese of Denver in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

Cost: Varies – Find a local intructor using the button below

This course is taught in a private one-on-one setting, with a trained FertilityCare Practitioner. The Creighton Model Program includes an introductory session and 5 follow up sessions, spanning 3 months. This completes the marriage preparation course portion. The course highly encourages the couple to complete 3 additional follow up sessions after the wedding (with an additional fee). Each private session provides a chart review.

This program is offered in the Archdiocese of Denver in English and Spanish.

Cost: $515 (Includes materials, Introductory Session, and five follow up sessions)

FEMM is a comprehensive women’s health and wellness program for optimal reproductive health. Our natural, breakthrough, science-based program helps women learn more about their bodies, and how to identify daily hormonal shifts to achieve their health and fertility goals.

FEMM stands for “Fertility Education and Medical Management” and encompasses both fertility awareness education and medical protocols for treating gynecologic and fertility concerns as naturally as possible.

As a method of natural family planning, FEMM combines two biomarker observations–cervical mucus and urinary hormone monitoring–to help couples correctly identify the fertile window and make decisions about sexual intercourse accordingly.

If you need more information or would like to learn more about the FEMM method, please reach out to: 

Vera Health and Fertility Clinic
12207 Pecos St, Suite 500
Westminster, CO 80234
Call or text: 303-797-5595
Email: vera@verafertility.com
verafertility.com

Colorado Marquette Instructors

This course is taught by a nurse instructor in a private setting.  The course consists of three classes taught in three sequential months.  It also includes two private chart reviews.

The Marquette Model is a Hormonal Fertility Monitoring method that uses ovulation test strips and an electronic fertility monitor, such as the ClearBlue Easy Fertility Monitor. This program is offered in the Archdiocese of Denver in English.

Cost: Varies on instructor – click the button below to learn more.

Heather Addison NFP

The following Catholic physicians are trained in reviewing a couple’s chart as a means of evaluating their gynecological health and fertility.  These doctors do not teach couples how to chart NFP.  Please go to NFP methods listed in left-hand column for NFP charting courses. None of these doctors prescribe contraceptives as a method of family planning or as a means of treating health issues.

Self-paced Online and In-person courses

Note:  To take this course for marriage preparation the couple must have their pastor’s pre-approval before starting the course.

This course takes approximately 3 months to complete. To complete this course you must complete 3 learning sessions, quizzes, 3 follow up forms, and 2 months of charting.

You are assigned a personal instructor that accompanies you throughout your course, answers questions, and reviews your quizzes and follow up forms to ensure successful learning.  They are available to you by email, phone or video conference.

It is preferred that couples learn NFP in a live teaching environment, although that is not always possible,  In certain cases, this learning option is available, for example, for couples who: live in different cities/states, don’t have live NFP classes in their area, have opposite work schedules

Cost: $125 (plus materials)

Click the link below to find more information for online and in-person courses:

This course is taught by trained CCL teaching couples. The course entails completing the three classes taught in three sequential months, as well as completing two months of personal charting.

The Sympto-Thermal Method is based on changes in a woman’s cervical fluid and basal body temperature, which change in response to the hormones of the menstrual cycle. With this method, a woman takes her temperature at the same time in the morning every day as well as observes her cervical fluid throughout the day and records this information on her chart at the end of each day.

IMPORTANT: Couples must obtain their pastor’s approval before starting any self-pace course.