Cycle tracking: Growing popularity, convenience make it an accessible Natural Family Planning method
CHARLOTTE — During Natural Family Planning Awareness Week July 21-27, the Diocese of Charlotte’s Family Life Office is highlighting the benefits of cycle tracking to women and married couples.
Cycle tracking is the practice of recording one’s menstrual cycle – to identify fertile times, to aid in the diagnosis of a health condition, or to optimize health and wellness. It is also known as fertility awareness when used as a method to become pregnant or to postpone pregnancy for a short time or indefinitely.
Mobile apps and wearable trackers have made cycle tracking more popular and convenient than ever. And thanks to cycle tracking, women can manage the shifting hormone patterns throughout their cycle and take advantage of the health benefits of “cycle syncing” the ways they exercise, eat, sleep and work.
Cycle tracking is a flexible and accessible component of Natural Family Planning (NFP) that anyone can do, and it aligns with Catholic teaching. It also is a natural and effective alternative to contraceptives like hormonal birth control or to assisted reproductive technologies, which are fraught with moral, physical and emotional issues.
The diocese’s Family Life Office offers free online Natural Family Planning courses in English and Spanish and refers to local instructors for in-person instruction. These courses cover cycle tracking and other important information to help women reap the benefits of this natural approach to health and family planning. In addition, Cycle Prep and TeenFEMM, two programs that introduce cycle awareness and its health benefits to younger women, are available for mothers and their daughters.
Cycle Prep and TeenFEMM are particularly important resources because girls transitioning through puberty need education and support to achieve healthy menstrual cycles and hormones, which impact their growth and development, mental health and future fertility.
When girls and women experience menstrual cycle problems, it is advised to seek treatment from a health professional trained in restorative reproductive medicine, which uses cycle tracking to identify and resolve root causes rather than simply treating the symptoms.
Several Catholic, pro-life health professionals in the Charlotte diocese have completed additional medical training in order to offer this approach to women’s healthcare, which aims to restore healthy hormones, ovulation and fertility.
Email the diocese’s Family Life Office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to find a supportive program or health professional near you.
— Batrice Adcock, Special to the Catholic News Herald
More online
At www.charlottediocese.org/faith-life/family-life/natural-family-planning: Learn more about NFP, get answers to basic questions about family planning and Catholic teaching, and sign up for workshops offered through the diocese’s Family Life Office
At www.usccb.org/topics/natural-family-planning: Learn more about Church teaching related to infertility and assisted reproductive techniques
At www.naturalwomanhood.org/find-a-doctor/restorative-reproductive-medicine: Learn more about restorative reproductive medicine