NaPro Technology: A Quiet Revolution

Move over IVF and Birth Control. NaPro is moral, effective and works with the natural cycles of a women’s body.

Caitlin Bootsma - Image used with author's permission

It’s not always easy being Catholic when it comes to issues of women’s health. Many women report that the first—and often only—solution offered by their OBGYN is birth control when there is something wrong. Even more tragically, women who suffer with infertility are counseled to consider in-vitro fertilization, a procedure that is not only against Church teaching, but also expensive and often does not result in pregnancy.

What is a woman to do? Sometimes, families must continue to suffer the pain of infertility.

But that isn’t always the case, thanks to the emergence of NaPro technology.

A new documentary produced by BlackFriars Media, an apostolate of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, explains that there is now a viable alternative to birth control and/or other practices such as in-vitro fertilization and egg/sperm donation.

The 25-minute film interviews a number of medical practitioners who explain the basic idea behind NaPro (which stands for Natural Procreative Technology) that is already changing so many women’s lives. In essence, NaPro is an organized scientific system that works with a woman’s body, instead of suppressing it like birth control or attempting to surpass it through IVF.

NaPro is an extremely scientific process: women’s monthly cycles are charted, their ovulation patterns examined and their hormone levels analyzed. Dr. Ann Nolte explains that one important part of NaPro is endrocrinology, specifically looking at estrogen and progesterone levels and correcting them when necessary.

Women visit NaPro doctors for a wide variety of women’s health issues, including infertility, menstrual cramps, ovarian cysts, miscarriages and a number of other issues.

The goal? To make a woman’s body go back to functioning the way it should. This includes, of course, being able to become pregnant and sustain the unborn life of their child.

An important part of the apostolate of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph is their pro-life focus. What I discovered from NaPro: A Quiet Revolution is that this exciting new chapter of women’s health truly is life-giving, both to women and to the children many are able to have as a result of treatment.

There is a list of doctors who practice NaPro throughout the country here and more details about NaPro: A Quiet Revolution can be viewed on EWTN on January 20 at 6:30 p.m. or purchased here.

Caitlin Bootsma is the editor of Human Life International's Truth and Charity Forum. Mrs. Bootsma received a Licentiate in Catholic Social Communications at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome as well as a Master's of Systematic Theology from Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom
College. She lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and two sons.