Chapter 10: Special Instructions and Applications

Hilgers TW

Fertility Awareness · Methods

Chapter 10: Special Instructions and Applications

Hilgers TW

The Medical and Surgical Practice of NaProTECHNOLOGY, 185-206, 2004

RRM Academy Synopsis

Creighton Model charting rules change after the pill and postpartum

A 2004 textbook chapter on the Creighton Model System (CrMS) explains how its charting rules adapt to special situations. The chapter sets out special CrMS instructions for post-pill, breastfeeding, postpartum and premenopausal women. Sample charts illustrate many of them.

Key Findings

The chapter treats coming off birth control pills, breastfeeding, postpartum, pregnancy loss, premenopause and sterilization as separate categories. Each has temporary instructions until the basic instructions restart.
For women coming off birth control pills, the chapter attributes irregular ovulation and cervical erosion to aftereffects of pill use. The chapter calls persistent post-pill anovulation a possible cause of infertility.
The chapter separates total from partial breastfeeding. Suckling suppresses ovulation, possibly for an extended period, the chapter states. In breastfeeding women, fertility can return before menstruation.
For infertility, the chapter says CrMS charts help time tests. The authors describe dry, limited mucus and regular mucus cycles as preliminary patterns, with limited mucus cycles seen most often.
The chapter defines a "double" Peak as two Peak-type mucus buildups in one cycle, linked mainly to acute stress. Separate rules cover seminal fluid, arousal fluid and premenstrual mucus.

RRM Context

A chart gives restorative clinicians a daily record of mucus and bleeding that reflects ovarian function. The record looks different after suppressive medications, after pregnancy and near menopause. Teaching programs therefore write separate rules for each state. This chapter appears in a NaProTECHNOLOGY textbook, where the chart also helps time tests.

Our editorial summary of this paper, not the article's abstract.

Abstract

This chapter describes the special instructions of the CrMS, which apply temporarily in particular reproductive categories until the basic system instructions are restarted. The categories covered include coming off birth control pills, total and partial breast feeding, the postpartum period without breast feeding, post-abortion, the single woman who is not genitally active, premenopause, post-sterilization, and infertility. Hilgers also gives instructions for particular situations, including the seminal fluid and arousal fluid instructions, early ovulation, the “double” Peak, long cycles, anovulation, premenstrual mucus and spotting, and dry cycles, and reports that a study of 564 menstrual cycles found an incidence of “double” Peak of 7.8 percent. For couples with infertility, the chapter describes dry, limited mucus, and regular mucus cycle patterns and the use of the chart to time evaluation tests such as hysterosalpingography, progesterone levels, and endometrial biopsies.

Topics

Fertility Awareness › Methods › Creighton Model · Restorative Reproductive Medicine › NaProTechnology › Protocols and Framework · Menstrual Cycle › Cycle Across the Lifespan › Cycle and General Health

Thomas W Hilgers

Tom Hilgers, T Hilgers

Hilgers et al. 2004, Hilgers 2004

Chapter 10: Special Instructions and Applications

Creighton Model charting rules change after the pill and postpartum

Key Findings

RRM Context

Abstract

Topics

By this author

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