Fertility Awareness · Methods

Chapter 61: Preconceptional Care and the CREIGHTON MODEL System

Hilgers TW

The Medical and Surgical Practice of NaProTECHNOLOGY, 825-835, 2004

RRM Academy Synopsis

Limited mucus cycles are linked to miscarriage in infertility

Limited mucus cycles on a chart are linked to miscarriage in women with infertility, a chapter on the CREIGHTON MODEL System reports. The data come from one institute.

Key Findings

  • Serial ultrasound of 432 studies in women with infertility placed follicle rupture near the Peak Day. Every conception seen in these ultrasound cycles fell within a few days of it.
  • In women with infertility, conceptions on Peak +2 and Peak +3 came in cycles with lower mucus cycle scores. Small follicles and partial ruptures also went with limited mucus cycles.
  • Women with infertility whose pregnancies ended in miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or preterm delivery had significantly lower mucus cycle scores than normal-fertility controls.
  • Premenstrual spotting was significantly more common in women with infertility than in normal-fertility controls.
  • A chart with a five-day post-Peak phase matched a short, low-progesterone luteal phase in one case. The chapter calls this classic Type I luteal phase deficiency.

RRM Context

Cycle charting fits the restorative principle of evaluation before treatment. A chart pattern gives a clinician a reason to look for a cause before pregnancy. The chapter places this inside NaProTechnology, where a trained physician reviews abnormal charts. It teaches women and their husbands together.

Abstract

This chapter reviews basic principles of preconceptional care, including medical conditions, lifestyle behaviors, diet and folic acid supplementation, and the role of the CREIGHTON MODEL System (CrMS) in a primary prevention strategy. Drawing on 432 follicular ultrasound studies at the Pope Paul VI Institute, Hilgers reports that follicle rupture occurred most commonly on the Peak Day (31.9%) and from Peak -2 through Peak +2 in 94.5 percent of cycles. The chapter associates limited mucus cycles, premenstrual spotting and short post-Peak phases with reproductive abnormalities, and reports a significantly lower mucus cycle score in pregnancies with an abnormal outcome than in normal fertility controls. Hilgers concludes that knowledge of CrMS biomarkers allows primary prevention strategies to be implemented before conception, while stating that continued research is needed.

Topics

By this author

Related research

Fertility Awareness › Methods › Creighton Model · Reproductive Endocrinology › Ovarian Hormones › Progesterone · Diagnostics › Cycle Biomarkers › Cervical Mucus Monitoring
Thomas W Hilgers
Tom Hilgers, T Hilgers
Hilgers et al. 2004, Hilgers 2004