Natural Family Planning Association (Saskatchewan)

NFP SK hosts Billings Ovulation Method Information Night! 7 to 9pm, Tuesday, February 5th, 2019. St. Joseph's Church, 260 - 25th St. E., Prince Albert, SK. For more information: [email protected]. Please Share.

International Women's Day - wishing women everywhere good health and happiness. Good health includes being able to manage your fertility without harm. Learning... to understand your body's natural patterns with the Billings Ovulation Method will enable you do achieve or avoid pregnancy as you choose and to monitor your reproductive health. "This is knowledge of her body that every woman ought to have!"

Fascinating reports today of research into changes in women's brains when they are pregnant. Researchers believe that this has to do with preparing pregnant wo...men to be mothers. There is an increase in the areas of the brain which have to do with empathy and concern for others. Scans of women's brains were taken before and after pregnancy and scientists say that the results are so consistent that they can even tell, just from the brain scan, which women had been pregnant! For the knowledge you need to prepare you for pregnancy and motherhood, consult your Billings LIFE tutor or visit www.billings.life.

Some bizarre research reported today suggests that a woman might be able to control the gender of her baby by manipulating her blood pressure! http://www.news....com.au//groundbreaking-research-suggests-/ Quite apart from the fact that it is the sperm which determine the gender of the child, it seems dangerous to suggest that a woman should deliberately seek to send her blood pressure higher in an attempt to conceive a boy. Apart from which the difference in the result, even from the study, was only about a 20% chance of influencing the outcome. For a better than 80% chance of naturally preselecting the sex of the child without danger to the mother's health or the pregnancy, consult your nearest Billings LIFE tutor http://www.billings.life/en/contactbillingslife/contact.html

How does Billings compare to other family planning methods? Great little comparison (though costs vary by location):

Part 1 Teacher Training Workshop this November!

The Billings Ovulation Method: a way to safeguard your health!

Check out this very informative video by breast surgeon Dr. Angela Lanfranchi on the health risks of the pill. If you or someone you know would like to learn how to safeguard your reproductive health, please visit us at www.nfpsask.ca!

Natural Family Planning in the news. They're right, NFP is for everyone! Disclaimer: the video mentions barrier methods, which are not compatible with the Billings Ovulation Method and will put the couple at a higher chance of unintended pregnancy.

Check out this video for a ton of great information on how the pill actually affect womens' bodies. Too bad this isn't in the general media!

"I think there has been a growing dislike in the last decade or so with people not liking to take the Pill forever, a feeling that they just don't want to keep ...pumping their body full of tablets" [Dr Di Palmer Women's Health Specialist from the Royal Women's Hospital]. Are you looking for a natural alternative that doesn't have the side effects? The Billings Ovulation Method is based on your body's natural signals of fertility and infertility. Unlike the Pill, the Billings Ovulation Method is chemical-free. Unlike IUDs, the Billings Ovulation Method is non-invasive. And it is cheaper and more reliable than condoms. No side effects, and as reliable as the Pill... Phone us toll free in Australia on 1800 335 860 or for more information visit us at http://www.thebillingsovulationmethod.org/

There was a surprising article on Mail Online (Daily Mail UK) last week suggesting that increasing numbers of women are favouring ‘Withdrawal’ over The Pill. [h...ttp://www.dailymail.co.uk//Backlash-Pill-contraception-le] In an age when there have never been more options to prevent pregnancy, it would be easy to assume that this approach is rare. But it seems that a growing number of women are rejecting conventional contraceptives and going back to basics. While it's thought, realistically, that eight out of 100 women get pregnant using the Pill, with withdrawal the rate is closer to 20 per cent. For many it's simply a reaction against the Pill and other hormone-based contraceptives, and the effect that they can have on women's bodies with reported side-effects of varying severity - from changes in weight and skin, to depression and lowered libido and in very rare cases blood clots. Recent research, for example, suggests at least one in six British women on the Pill will suffer from lowered sexual desire, while another study suggested women on a certain type of pill were three times more likely to have a mental illness than those who were not on any medication. All of the above may explain why women would stop taking The Pill, but why would they favour anything as risky as Withdrawal? We can only assume that they don’t know about the scientifically validated, inexpensive and HIGHLY EFFECTIVE Billings Ovulation Method. This Method was trialled by the World Health Organisation as long ago as 1987 and found to be 97% successful in avoiding pregnancy. More recent trials have repeatedly shown the Billings Ovulation Method to be as successful as The Pill with NONE of the harmful side effects. For more information visit www.thebillingsovulationmethod.org

Another senseless death. Our condolences go to her family.

Just another reason to trust yourself and your own body rather than a pill company!

A review of studies of male fertility published in the journal Fertility and Sterility in the last 10 years reveal some interesting information. Despite opinio...ns to the contrary, it was found that, as in women, male fertility also declines with age. In one study there was a fivefold increase in the time to pregnancy for men older than 45. In another study this was seen to be associated with a decline in semen volume, sperm motility and sperm morphology (size and shape). In a study published earlier this year about the effects of age, obesity, smoking and the timing of intercourse it was concluded that there are considerable knowledge gaps about modifiable factors that affect the fertility of both men and women. Whilst many people understood that losing weight and stopping smoking improved female fertility, there was poor understanding that these are also factors in male fertility. And almost 40% of respondents had inadequate knowledge of when in the menstrual cycle a woman is most likely to conceive. The good news is, while you can’t turn back the clock, your Billings Ovulation Method tutor will give you the support to modify factors which could be affecting your fertility and, more importantly, an understanding of the very best time in the cycle to achieve pregnancy. See http://www.thebillingsovulationmethod.org/infertility.html for more information about factors affecting fertility.

Some of our instructors know what this is like! There is a misconception that NFP users inevitably have big families because NFP is not effective. Not true! Many NFP users want big families, and NFP allows them to achieve that goal. NFP users that have smaller families are usually not pegged as using NFP simply because they don't stand out as much :)

Reminder - Free Information Session on the Billings Ovulation Method tonight at 7pm in Saskatoon at the Cathedral of the Holy Family (123 Nelson Road). Bring a friend!

The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have been very much in the news lately. These genes produce proteins in the cells of breast and other tissue that help repair damage t...o DNA. Mutations in these genes mean that damaged DNA cannot be repaired properly, and this increases the risk of developing cancer, especially breast and ovarian cancer in women, and prostate cancer in men. A new study has looked at the onset of menopause in women carrying mutations in the BRCA1/2 genes. The researchers found that age at menopause for women in the study carrying the faulty genes was significantly younger than unaffected women - 50 years versus 53 years. In heavy smokers, age at menopause for women with the faulty genes was 46 years. These results indicate that mutations in the BRCA 1/2 genes result in DNA damage to eggs in the ovaries. This is worsened by heavy smoking. Loss of healthy eggs leads to a higher incidence of infertility as well as earlier onset of menopause. In commenting on this study, Dr Eskin notes that "healthcare providers consulting these women on fertility may recommend earlier childbearing With increased longevity, the trend for late pregnancies must be questioned in light of these results." You can read about the study here: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/803894