Chapter 4: Introduction to the CREIGHTON MODEL System

Hilgers TW

Restorative Reproductive Medicine · NaProTechnology

Chapter 4: Introduction to the CREIGHTON MODEL System

Hilgers TW

The Medical and Surgical Practice of NaProTECHNOLOGY, 87-102, 2004

RRM Academy Synopsis

Creighton Model charting identifies fertile days from cervical mucus

A textbook chapter introduces the CREIGHTON MODEL FertilityCare System (CrMS), which finds fertile and infertile days from the mucus and bleeding a woman charts. The chapter explains how couples use the system to seek or avoid pregnancy and how its teachers are trained and certified.

Key Findings

The chapter states that the Peak Day, the last day of clear, stretchy or lubricative mucus, correlates well with ovulation timing, and that mucus correlates well with rising estrogen.
The chapter reports that the same charting principles apply in long cycles, breastfeeding and continuous mucus discharge, where a change from an unchanging base infertile pattern identifies fertility.
The chapter describes the CrMS as usable both to achieve and to avoid pregnancy, and counts a pregnancy after use of a fertile day as successful use.
CrMS biomarkers are described as strongly suggestive of specific underlying problems and as a guide to where evaluation should begin, and their study gave rise to NaProTECHNOLOGY.
The chapter lists five education programs for teachers, with accreditation and certification handled through the American Academy of FertilityCare Professionals.

RRM Context

Restorative reproductive medicine treats the menstrual cycle as a source of diagnostic information that a physician and a patient can read together. The Creighton Model gives NaProTechnology its standardized charting. That shared record lets evaluation begin with the likely cause of a cycle problem, and treatment then works with the way the cycle functions. Because the system continues across a woman's reproductive life, the same record stays useful at each stage. The approach follows the restorative principles of cooperating with the body and understanding a problem before treating it.

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

Abstract

This chapter introduces the CREIGHTON MODEL FertilityCare System (CrMS), which Hilgers describes as a standardized modification of the Billings Ovulation Method, with research beginning in 1976 and a first full description in 1980. Hilgers places the system within a Catholic understanding of human sexuality, reviewing Humanae Vitae and later papal writings, and presents the CrMS as a response to their calls to aid married couples. The chapter explains that external vulvar observations of cervical mucus discharge, bleeding and dry days are used to identify the phases of fertility and infertility, and it defines the Peak Day as the last day of mucus discharge that is clear, stretchy or lubricative. Hilgers also describes the five teacher education programs, including the FertilityCare Practitioner and FertilityCare Instructor programs, along with certification and accreditation through the American Academy of FertilityCare Professionals and the qualities expected of teachers.

Topics

Restorative Reproductive Medicine › NaProTechnology › Protocols and Framework · Fertility Awareness › Methods › Creighton Model · Menstrual Cycle › Cycle Biomarkers › Cervical Mucus

Thomas W Hilgers

Tom Hilgers, T Hilgers

Hilgers et al. 2004, Hilgers 2004

Chapter 4: Introduction to the CREIGHTON MODEL System

Creighton Model charting identifies fertile days from cervical mucus

Key Findings

RRM Context

Abstract

Topics

By this author

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