Fehring, R. J., & Rodriguez, D. (2013). Spiritual Care of Couples Practicing Natural Family Planning. The Linacre Quarterly, 80(3), 225-238. https://doi.org/10.1179/0024363913Z.00000000023
Fehring RJ, Rodriguez D. Spiritual Care of Couples Practicing Natural Family Planning. Linacre Q. 2013;80(3):225-238. doi:10.1179/0024363913Z.00000000023
Fehring, Richard J., and Dana Rodriguez. "Spiritual Care of Couples Practicing Natural Family Planning." The Linacre Quarterly, vol. 80, no. 3, 2013, pp. 225-238.
Couples in an online NFP program report spiritual struggle and growth
Couples in an online natural family planning (NFP) program report both spiritual struggle and spiritual growth. A qualitative study of 116 forum responses from 66 people in a Marquette University program found this pattern. Listening, prayer, and help from a bioethicist were common forms of support.
Key Findings
The study analyzed 116 forum responses from 66 individuals, with a mean age of 29.2 (range 20–42); 87% were of the Catholic faith and 80 percent had college degrees.
Spiritual responses included personal struggle, relationship struggle, and personal and relationship growth, such as self-mastery over sexual desires and trust in the NFP method, the spouse, and God.
Major spiritual problems involved decisions about family size, the morality of sexual acts and of medical treatments for women's health problems, and sterilization toward the end of the reproductive life.
Frequent interventions included listening while couples vented, referral to a bioethicist, prayer, suggested reading, help with building confidence in NFP, and support from the online community.
Participants had been married for 4.7 years on average, with 2.0 living children on average; 50 percent were in regular cycles and 31 percent were breastfeeding.
Interpretation
The study is a clinical descriptive qualitative analysis. Two nurses read the forum responses and sorted them into categories and themes. The themes show the range of spiritual experiences the participating couples brought to NFP. Most participants were Catholic and had college degrees. The authors note that the sample was relatively small and homogeneous. They recommend a qualitative study that asks couples directly how NFP affects their spirituality.
RRM Context
Restorative reproductive medicine is couple-centered and treats the whole person. Fertility awareness-based methods involve both partners in tracking the cycle. In this study, some husbands shared in the charting, and couples raised moral questions. The authors conclude that health professionals and bioethicists should work together in giving spiritual care.
Our editorial summary of this paper, not the article's abstract.
Abstract
There are few studies that have investigated the spiritual problems of couples practicing natural family planning (NFP). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the spiritual problems and interventions of couples who were taught NFP by means of a professional online Web-based support system. Responses from this online system and its forums were categorized according to spiritual responses, spiritual problems, and spiritual interventions to the practice of NFP. Themes addressed included spiritual care in regards to decisions about the transmission of new life, difficulties in dealing with chastity and abstinence, bioethical problems related to pregnancy and illness, end of the reproductive life decisions, ethical treatment of women's health problems, sacrifice, and personal and relational struggles. Online community support, help in building confidence in NFP methods, and bioethicist referral are key interventions. The complexity of these spiritual responses, problems, and appropriate interventions require the expertise of health professionals in cooperation with bioethicists. We concluded that NFP can be viewed as both a spiritual practice and a means of spiritual growth.
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