Natural Fertility Method Superior, Study Says

Whereas in vitro fertilization (IVF) achieves pregnancy success rates in Europe of 18.4 percent, a recent study has found a quarter of couples can do the same using natural procreative (NaPro) technology. NaPro technology was developed by obstetrician and gynecologist Thomas W. Hilgers in Omaha, Neb. Central to the technique is educating women and couples how to precisely monitor and chart female bodily "markers" that indicate fertility and fertility problems. This allows the NaPro technology practitioner to zero in on abnormal menstrual bleeding patterns, poor cervical mucus flow and subtle hormonal deficiencies that are often not detected by routine gynecological evaluation. Once the biological problem is identified, a precisely targeted solution can be undertaken.

"NaPro Technology works in a complementary way to the woman's body without using suppressive drugs or chemicals," said Mary Lee Barron of the Saint Louis University School of Nursing. "Patients keep charts of their menstrual cycle in order to use biological markers that reflect the occurrence of various hormonal events during the course of the menstrual cycle."

In the recent study, published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 1,100 couples were treated with NaPro technology in a Galway, Ireland, clinic, and a 25 percent success rate was realized. While critics reject the study's results because of the lack of a control group, the research is being touted as historic by NaPro technology supporters, since it's the first such investigation to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

The research, led by Joseph Stanford of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, also found NaPro technology lowered the rate of multiple-birth pregnancies from 34 percent (in a recent American study) to 4.6 percent. Stanford said he hoped his research would help resolve the "current information deficit" surrounding NaPro technology.

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