Natural family planning service for Tasmanians
A family planning service offering couples a natural method to assist with the spacing and timing of children was officially launched in Hobart last month.
Natural Fertility Services Tasmania will offer education on the Sympto-Thermal Method (STM) of planning, based on understanding the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the female menstrual cycle and charting these observations on a daily basis to work out times of fertility and infertility.
Client Educator Julianna Smith said the service would of great value to Tasmanians, providing the benefits of a natural method of family planning that was natural, cost effective and without side effects.
“It is important for people to understand that the modern methods of natural family planning are not like the old calendar or rhythm method that their grandparents may have been familiar with,” she explained.
“When modern STM is used correctly by couples who have received proper instruction, the method is 99.6% effective, which is comparable to artificial forms of contraception.”
Mrs Smith, who is currently undertaking training to become fully accredited with the Australian Council of Natural Family Planning, said the service was designed for a broad range of people including married couples, individuals wanting to understand their fertility, breastfeeding mothers and couples experiencing infertility or reproductive health issues.
“It allows Catholic couples to benefit from the Church’s wisdom and beautiful teachings around the meaning of marriage and family life,” she said.
“Gaining a greater understanding of their combined fertility allows a couple to grow closer together and understand each other more. It allows the couple to come before their spouse in the marital embrace without holding anything back from the other person – they give of themselves to each other freely without holding back the gift of their fertility.”
Mrs Smith said that Natural Family Planning also enabled the couple to uphold the sanctity of human life and work in total cooperation with God in the planning of their families “which is an awesome privilege and responsibility.”
Natural Fertility Services Tasmania also provides advantages for the wider community, with increasing numbers of people seeking natural methods of family planning.
“The service is definitely not just for Catholics, and in fact many non-Catholics use the service as well,” Mrs Smith said.
“They often have experienced adverse side effects from artificial contraception and want to try something different. We also have clients where one spouse may not be Catholic and the method is taught in such a way that being a Catholic is not a prerequisite.”
While Mrs Smith completes her training, NFS Tasmania will refer clients to NFS Adelaide to provide the education service through video appointments.
To arrange an appointment, or for more information, contact Julianna Smith at nfstasmania@aohtas.org.au or phone 0447 276 154.
Main image: Natural Fertility Services Tasmania Client Educator Julianna Smith.