Diocesan NFP office to
offer Creighton Model

The Diocese of Phoenix Office of Natural Family Planning already instructs couples in three different methods of NFP, but they’re getting ready to offer another one.

It’s called the Creighton Model, and it makes use of NaPro Technology, which is short for Natural Procreative Technology.

“It was developed through a lot of research and coordination,” said Cindy Leonard, director of the diocesan office of NFP. “NaPro Technology is new health science, really. It’s especially helpful for infertile couples, but it’s also helpful for other gynecological issues, like repeat miscarriages or endometriosis.”

The Creighton Model — like all forms of NFP — requires a woman to chart signs of her fertility cycle every day. But unlike other models, the charts in the Creighton Model are very scientific and standardized. These charts allow a properly trained physician to better understand a patient’s fertility cycle and any issues.

“It’s looking for specific information in a very standardized manner,” said Deidre Wilson, D.O., who is one of two doctors in Phoenix with medical consulting accreditation in the Creighton Model.

“When we see these parameters in a woman’s cycle using this model we can say 78 percent of the time that we are going to have this or that,” she explained. “It becomes a tool, an aid for diagnosis. It’s a guide for an underlying problem that lets us do further investigation.”

But before couples can begin using the Creighton Model, the diocese first has to train some teachers — or practitioners as they’re called in the Creighton Model. Certification entails a rigorous year of study and practice.

The first phase of training runs from Oct. 22-30. After the initial phase, practitioners will be able to take clients, with whom they’ll meet one-on-one for an hour each time.

Because of its intensive nature, training in the Creighton Model is more expensive than other methods of NFP. It costs about $3,300 to train a practitioner. Thanks to a grant from the Catholic Community Foundation, the Office of Natural Family Planning is able to offer partial scholarship to some applicants.

Leonard hopes for good communication among teachers of every NFP model to help couples find the best fit for themselves.

“We want to be as flexible as we need to be. It’s important for all the methods to collaborate and support each other,” she said.

Referring couples to the Creighton Model is important, Wilson said. Many people — Catholic and otherwise — don’t even know that NaPro Technology exists as a healthy, Church-approved method to treat infertility.

“NaPro is a change in mindset and approach,” she said. “It fosters true healing physically and spiritually. It is a couple approach.”

Wilson contrasted this approach with in vitro fertilization, which she said doesn’t often seek to understand the underlying problem of infertility in a patient. And while in vitro may work more quickly than NaPro, Wilson quoted its “take-home-baby” success rate at about 25 percent. NaPro, however, boasts an 80 percent success rate.

“I had one couple who struggled with infertility. They had been married for 11 years and trying to conceive for six, and they were able to achieve a pregnancy,” Wilson said. “Also for patients suffering from recurrent miscarriages, it can be very helpful to carry to full term.”

Leonard is just excited for couples in the diocese to have one more choice in Natural Family Planning.

“We welcome all methods of NFP in the diocese, and this is another option,” she said. “It’s important for couples to find what fits best for them.”