Reproductive health and fertility awareness methods

The Billings Ovulation Method® is used to identify times of fertility and infertility in a woman’s menstrual cycle, so that the couple can plan their pregnancies with God’s grace.

What many are not aware of is the Method’s benefit in assisting doctors with their diagnosis and management of reproductive illnesses (some of which lead to sub-fertility or even infertility).

When women and couples learn with the assistance of a Billings Ovulation Method® teacher, we can assist them in identifying concerning patterns in the cycle which would need medical investigation.

Not to mention that women who are more knowledgeable about their cycle through their learning the Billings Ovulation Method®, are more aware of when they move from one stage of the reproductive life to another.

The Billings Ovulation Method Association of Trinidad and Tobago (BOMA-TT) consists of members who are teachers, trainees, associates, and volunteers. Some of our members are medical doctors, but when, in our one-to-one confidential teaching we identify an issue in a client’s chart, our course of action is to send the client back to their physician for medical investigation of the issue revealed through their Billings chart.

There are times unfortunately, when our clients come back to us, unhappy with what their physician recommended or did not recommend.

The Billings Ovulation Method® is evidence-based and is the most quality-researched method of family planning in the world, yet the research of this simple method has not stopped.

A Frontiers in Medicine review article in May 2022 noted “Fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) educate about reproductive health and enable tracking and interpretation of physical signs, such as cervical fluid secretions and basal body temperature, which reflect the hormonal changes women experience on a cyclical basis during the years of ovarian activity. Some methods measure relevant hormone levels directly. Most FABMs allow women to identify ovulation and track this ‘vital sign’ of the menstrual or female reproductive cycle, through daily observations recorded on cycle charts (paper or electronic).”

The Billings Ovulation Method® along with Natural Procreative Technology (NaProTechnology), Creighton Model FertilityCare System, FEMM (Fertility Education Medical Management) and NeoFertility, among many others are ‘modern methods’ of natural family planning because they are FABMs. Notably, the Rhythm Method is not a FABM. Rhythm uses an algorithm (calculation) of when ovulation occurs, which has not been as useful or as accurate as FABMs have come to be.

FABMs have already proved to be highly effective in identifying signs of fertility and continue to be researched for their effectiveness in assisting couples in planning their families and identify times when there are problems in the cycle that need medical investigation and/or treatment.

Nowadays, pioneering solutions to reproductive illnesses and/or problems exist that do not include ongoing hormonal treatment which some persons cannot physically tolerate or choose not to use for varying reasons.

NaProTechnology [naprotechnology.com] and FEMM [femmhealth.org] (both of which are run by doctors and based abroad) are within reach online for medical support.

Natural Womanhood recently put out an article about doctoral research coming out of the United Kingdom on how women and couples seeking medical assistance for reproductive illness solutions and are unhappy with IVF since, even if they do conceive with this approach, their illness remains untreated. Here in T&T, BOMA-TT is offering training for physicians, other healthcare professionals and laypersons to learn the Billings Ovulation Method® for the purpose of teaching it. We have both in-person and online teacher training programmes available that afford trainees accreditation with us.

BOMA-TT is an official affiliate of the World Organization Ovulation Method Billings (WOOMB) International Limited that continues the work of its founders, the late Drs John and Evelyn Billings who established the Billings Ovulation Method® of natural fertility regulation (woombinternational.org).

Contact us to become a Billings Teacher. Visit our website and follow us on social media anytime, but especially during Natural Fertility Awareness Week August 22 – 28.

Contact BOMA-TT: 384-1659, email: billingstt@gmail.com, website: www.billingstt.com