The menstrual and fertility cycles have been shrouded in mystery since the beginning of time. Most women still do not know about the workings of their cycles of fertility and infertility. Every woman has the right to know how her cycles function in order to understand the way her body works.

After fifty years of amazing research, the mysteries of the menstrual and fertility cycle have been unraveled through the CREIGHTON MODEL FertilityCare™ System (CrMS) and the new women’s health science of NaProTECHNOLOGY. Now, a woman can know her cycles and use this information for the maintenance of her health, and couples can use this knowledge to plan their family and build their future!

The CrMS relies upon the standardized observation and charting of biological markers that are essential to a woman’s health and fertility. These “biomarkers,” tell the couple when they are naturally fertile and infertile, allowing the couple to use the system either to achieve or to avoid pregnancy. These biomarkers also indicate abnormalities in a woman’s health.

The CrMS is a standardized modification of the Billings Ovulation Method. It is built on research, education and service (the “triangle of support” for the CrMS user – see Figure 4-1) and is an integrated educational system designed to assure the highest quality service delivery possible for the FertilityCare™ Educator, Practitioner and the client couple.

Research leading to the development of the Creighton Model System began in 1976 and the system was first fully described in 1980. The research on this system has continued up until the present day and it has an extraordinary degree of scientific understanding and validity.

In the CrMS, fertility is observed as a part of health, not a disease. It is specifically not a natural contraceptive. Rather, it is a true method of family planning – a method that can be used in two ways, to achieve, as well as avoid pregnancy. These principles make this system distinctly different from contraception, artificial or natural.

The CrMS is based upon a couple’s knowledge and understanding of their naturally-occurring phases of fertility and infertility. Through this understanding, the couple is able to make decisions (choices) regarding the achievement or avoidance of pregnancy. This system provides information which deals with the complete dimension of their procreative ability. In addition, it provides women the added benefit of being able to monitor and maintain their procreative and gynecologic health over a lifetime. It is truly the only family planning system which has networked family planning with gynecologic and procreative healthcare and health maintenance. The teachers of the CrMS are trained allied health professionals and specifically-trained physicians have been educated to incorporate the CrMS into their medical practice.