NaProTechnology: An Effective Approach to Infertility

The following describes an approach to the evaluation and treatment of infertility which is based on Natural Procreative Technology (defined below). This approach is both medically effective and cost-effective. It is also fully compatible with ethical considerations and religious perspectives.

This approach does not include artificial reproductive technologies such as “in vitro fertilization” and related procedures. It does, however, use up-to-date, state-of-the-art medical technology when necessary.

To obtain maximum benefit and avoid unnecessary delay and frustration in dealing with your infertility problem, we strongly recommend that you obtain competent help early on from a FertilityCare Practitioner as well as from a FertilityCare Medical Consultant. Such persons will be well trained in the approaches described here. As necessary, they will also refer you to other specialists who may be needed to help deal with your problem.

Natural Procreative Technology

Natural Procreative Technology (NPT) is a reproductive science which concentrates its medical and allied health expertise in efforts to cooperate with and support the natural reproductive processes. Where there is an abnormality, NPT seeks to restore the natural function of the reproductive systems.

A fundamental cornerstone of NPT is for a woman to learn the natural fertility signals of her body. This provides essential clues as to what abnormalities may exist. NPT may also include hormonal supplementation, medications, or surgical interventions designed to restore the natural functions of the reproductive systems.

What is Infertility?

Infertility has been defined medically as the inability of a couple to achieve pregnancy after one year of "trying” through non-contracepted intercourse. If a couple has been using Creighton Model FertilityCare to time intercourse to the fertile time of the menstrual cycle, infertility can be diagnosed after six months of not getting pregnant. Infertility may affect 10-20% of couples.

What Causes Infertility?

There are many potential causes for infertility, and most often, more than one cause contributes to the problem. For the female possible causes include:

It is estimated that approximately 20-40% of the time, there is a male component to the infertility problem, usually in addition to a female component. While this discussion focuses primarily on the evaluation and treatment of the woman, it is important that the man be evaluated early in the process as described under “First Steps to Evaluate Infertility.”

First Steps to Evaluate Infertility

The following steps are strongly recommended as you begin to evaluate the possible causes of infertility. While they may seem basic, these steps form a firm foundation that can guide future advanced steps of evaluation in a much more productive and efficient way. Skipping or short cutting these initial steps will usually cause unnecessary delay, frustration, and expense down the road.

There are three initial steps:

Creighton Model FertilityCare

By meeting with an FertilityCare Practitioner, a couple can learn to chart the woman's daily changes in vaginal discharge which result from mucus produced by the cervix, using the standardized approach of the Creighton Model FertilityCare.

Carefully charting these changes can provide essential information about whether a woman is likely to be ovulating, whether her hormonal levels are likely to be abnormal, whether she may have endometriosis, and other information. Your FertilityCare Medical Consultant and FertilityCare Practitioner can help you interpret the large amount of information available in your FertilityCare chart.

In the past, many physicians have used basal body temperature for this purpose. We do not recommend the use of basal body temperature, because temperature is less accurate than mucus changes, and provides less information regarding a woman's hormones.

Another benefit from using FertilityCare is that it provides the most accurate way of knowing which days are potentially fertile. Use of this information alone has allowed up to 40% of couples with long-standing infertility to achieve pregnancy without further intervention.

History and Physical Exam

It is important that both the woman and the man have a complete medical history and examination to assess potential medical and surgical problems that may contribute to infertility. This will identify issues that should be addressed early in the process. This may include some initial laboratory testing as well.

We recommend that this initial evaluation be done by an FertilityCare Medical Consultant, who can integrate the results of the history and examination with the information available in the Creighton Model FertilityCare chart.

Semen Analysis

It is worthwhile to assess the potential male component of the infertility problem early on. This can be done with laboratory analysis of semen. It is not necessary to use masturbation or contraception to collect semen. A semen collection device can be used during normal intercourse for this purpose. An FertilityCare Medical Consultant can describe this to you in more detail.

Advanced Evaluation

Not all advanced evaluation steps may be necessary for every couple. Which steps are needed and how they are done depends completely on the information obtained from the initial steps of evaluation. Further evaluation steps for the woman might include:

This list is not exhaustive, and other evaluations may be necessary for a specific couple's situation. The evaluations marked with “timed” must be timed to the appropriate days of the menstrual cycle. This is best done not by counting days on the calendar, but rather by timing tests according to the Creighton Model FertilityCare chart. An FertilityCare Medical Consultant can discuss how best to accomplish this.

Treatment Possibilities

Of the many possible treatments for infertility, probably only a few will apply to any individual case. No treatment should be undertaken without first getting a clear diagnosis of the problems.

This can be obtained through the evaluation steps (initial and advanced) described earlier, and by thoroughly reviewing the case with an FertilityCare Medical Consultant. The FertilityCare Medical Consultant may also suggest that other specialists help with the evaluation.

Depending on the underlying problem(s) causing the infertility, possible treatments from the perspective of Natural Procreative Technology might include:

This list is not exhaustive, and other treatments may be necessary for a specific couple's situation.

Your FertilityCare Practitioner or Medical Consultant can help answer your questions and help you obtain further information.

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