Family Life Office

Other NFP Programs and Organizations:
A Baby's Breath
Couple to Couple League
Creighton Model FertilityCare™ Services and NaPro Technology:
    Creighton Model FertilityCare System
    NaProTechnology
    FertilityCare Philadelphia
Philadelphia Natural Family Planning Network: (Click here to view a schedule of NFP classes taught in Southeastern PA and NJ by others, based on either the Creighton Method or the Sympto-Thermal Method.)

Sexual intimacy is interpersonal communion which is both unitive (love-giving) and procreative (life-giving). In harmony with the Church’s teaching on human sexuality, Natural Family Planning (NFP) does not artificially separate these components of marital intimacy. NFP is an umbrella term for certain natural methods used either to achieve or postpone pregnancy. The practice of NFP is in accord with the faithful, fruitful, and permanent nature of marriage, and with every couple’s call to responsible parenthood.

NFP respects the natural rhythms of the body and promotes shared responsibility
for childbearing between husband and wife. Couples learn to identify and appreciate the signs of fertility in their own bodies. They monitor the signs of the woman’s body during her menstrual cycle to determine times of fertility and infertility. It is effective in helping to achieve as well as to postpone pregnancy. It is holistic and free of harmful side effects and allows users to work with the body rather than against it. It encourages couples to be open to the gift of children and
to cooperate with God’s plan for a loving and fruitful marriage.

An introduction to NFP is part of our Regional Marriage Preparation Program, as required by the Marriage Preparation Policy of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. For classes on how to practice NFP (taught by experienced instructors), and any further questions, please contact the Office for Life, Family and Laity at 215-587-0500.

"The work of educating in the service of life involves the training of married couples in responsible procreation. In its true meaning, responsible procreation requires couples to be obedient to the Lord's call and to act as faithful interpreters of his plan. This happens when the family is generously open to new lives, and when couples maintain an attitude of openness and service to life, even if, for serious reasons and in respect for the moral law, they choose to avoid a new birth for the time being or indefinitely."