This week is Natural Family Planning (NFP) Awareness Week (July 25-31, 2010) and I am grateful to have my blog as another way to help others become aware of what NFP is, is not, and the many blessings that can come out of embracing the NFP lifestyle.

So what is NFP and what is NFP Awareness Week?  Find out here.

If you want to find out more about NFP you can also go to my "Natural Family Planning" page here on my blog to read more.

You can also go to the "Great NFP Links" on the left sidebar of my homepage of my blog to read more about NFP.  

Here is a  list of the top 10 reasons to use NFP.  You can go here for more information about each reason.

10. NFP is based on scientific fact and modern technology.

9. NFP users learn more about their bodies and about their fertility.

8. NFP is between 97– 99% effective when avoiding or postponing a pregnancy.

7. NFP can also be very effective in achieving a pregnancy.

6. NFP is easy to use.

5. NFP is all-natural and very “organic.”

4. NFP is very inexpensive.

3. NFP is “marriage insurance.”

2. NFP fosters authentic marital love, respect, honesty and good communication.

1. NFP respects God’s plan for marital love and sexuality.     

I would like to share this personal story with you of how NFP charting gave my husband and I comfort and peace when a doctor mistakenly wrote down the wrong due date for our third child.

It is amazing to see how charting my own cycles has given me freedom and power because I know what changes are occurring in my body and I don't have to depend on a doctor to tell me what is going on.  By charting my cycles, my husband and I were able to know when our due dates were for our children before our first doctor's visit.  

We were especially grateful to have my charts when our third child was conceived because my doctor documented the wrong due date on my records.  He put the due date using the formula most physicians use (the Naegele Rule), but with NFP we use the Prem Rule which is a more accurate calculation of the due date because it is based on a time close to the actual time of ovulation.  He wrote down the due date according to the Naegele Rule, but since I ovulated late in my cycle for that month, my due date with the NFP Prem Rule was a week later. 

So when I went in for a Level 1 ultrasound, our baby's measurements were a little off so we had to get a Level II ultrasound.  During this time, the doctors were telling us about possible "problems" our child could have because his/her measurements were not where they should be.  But, when I went in for the Level II ultrasound the nurse asked for my due date and I told her that according to my NFP charts it was June 12.  She then told us the doctor wrote down June 6th, the wrong due date and the date that he calculated using the popular, and sometimes inaccurate,  Naegele Rule.   So I didn't need a Level II ultrasound after all (we did get one though) and the baby's measurements were right on target.  

So we are grateful for NFP, especially in this situation because if I didn't have my NFP charts, I might have been worried that something was not right with our baby or I could have been induced unnecessarily because the doctors would have thought I was late if I hadn't delivered by June 6th, when really my more accurate due date was June 12.  Our third child arrived on June 10 which is really close to the due date I had calculated with my charting.

NFP is a way to really appreciate why our fertility is a gift to be understood and not a disease to be eliminated.