4 posts tagged “natural birth control”

This is a lazy post. I sent this info in an email to someone doing research on all things relating birth control. I thought you might be interested in the info too. Sorry I didn't find the time to make this into a real post.

* * *

Here's the list of links I was telling you about. Again, I don't necessarily agree with all of them, but I think the topic of birth control is more nuanced than most of us take it for at first glance and is worth looking into various "out there" arguments to get a more rounded and comprehensive view.

Anti-Birth Control Movements...

If you haven't already familiarized yourself with the arguments behind the Quiverfull Movement and the Catholic view of birth control, I think that would be a good idea. While I don't agree with either view if full, I do think they both make some interesting arguments and are worth reading.

Quiverfull
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiverfull_Movement
http://www.quiverfull.com/

Catholic View of Birth Control
http://www.catholic.com/library/Birth_Control.asp

Birth Control, Family Size & Being Green...

I can't find a good link for it at the moment (I'll see if I can send you something later), but I would also look at arguments regarding family size as it relates to global responsibility. The short version is that one side says it is irresponsible to have a lot of children (some say more than one child) because the Earth is going to run out of resources and more people mean more of a drain on those resources resulting in global hunger, etc. The other argument is that humans are our most valuable resource (look at what is happening to societies that have birth rates below replacement levels) and that it's not scarcity of resources, but rather it is greed in distributing those resources and outrageous standards of living that hinders us in our efforts to stop global hunger, etc. 

Regarding Birth Control...

Informed Consent?
http://tami.vox.com/library/post/informed-consent.html
This is something I wrote. It contains a lot of the same links as below.

A Longer Condensation of Does The Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions?
http://www.epm.org/artman2/publish/prolife_birth_control_pill/A_Longer_Condensation_of_Does_The_Birth_Control_Pill_Cause_Abortions.shtml

Contra-Contraception
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/07/magazine/07contraception.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin

When Does Pregnancy Begin?: A Federal Appeals Court Decision Implicates a New Abortion Question
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/colb/20071015.html

Informed consent and the redefining of conception: a decision ill-conceived?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9848690

Contraceptive Info
http://contracept.org/
This is a great resource that has the best information I've found as far as how different methods work and the actual effectiveness (in preventing pregnancy) of various methods (hormonal, barrier, natural family planning).

Thoughts on Abortion, Birth Control, Family Planning, Family Size...

Thoughts on contraception and the quiverfull movement
http://humblemusings.com/archives/2008/03/04/thoughts-on-contraception-and-the-quiverfull-movement/

On Children as a Blessing Revisited
http://seekingtoglorify.blogspot.com/2009/02/on-children-as-blessing-revisited.html

How I became pro-life
http://www.conversiondiary.com/2008/01/how-i-became-pro-life.html

Blessings, But…
http://parunak.com/pursuingtitus2/category/birth-control/

It's all about the money (and greed, and selfishness...)
http://ccostello.blogspot.com/2008/09/its-all-about-money-and-greed-and.html

...other stuff to think about and research how it relates to birth control, family planning, abortion, etc. are:
(sorry I don't readily have links for these)
- Sex Out of Marriage
- Infertility Treatments (IVF, etc.)
- Sterilization
- Cloning
- Stem Cell Research

Thanks for taking on this topic! Best wishes in your research.

Tami

* * *

If any of you know if any good links or thoughts to add to this, please post them in the comments!

From Ask Moxie:

So I'm going to propose a challenge. 60 days, starting next Wednesday, Feb 27 (so we have time to figure out what we're going to do and to have a last hurrah) and running until April 26. Do three things to improve your health, whether that means giving something up (ahem, diet soda) or doing something new (ahem, T-Tapp Basic Workout Plus) and stick with it as well as you can during those 60 days.
http://www.askmoxie.org/2008/02/anyone-up-for-a.html

Here are Moxie's suggestions:

• Switch out your coffee for green tea.
• Stop drinking diet soda (or Crystal Light) and drink water instead.
• Actually start drinking 64+ ounces of water a day.
• Take Omega 3s every day.
• Cut out refined sugar.
• Switch from refined carbs to whole grains.
• Start reading all labels and not using anything with high-fructose corn syrup.
• Exercise for 15-25 minutes a day.
• Start running
• Take up T-Tapp
• Eat 5+ servings of vegetables every day.
• Take the stairs every time.
• Walk/bike to work.
• Go to bed at a decent time.

• more diligent about NFP
• more regular Bible study
• more regular pray life
• get up early (before kids get up)
• blog more regularly
• limit my computer time
• limit my TV time
• stay on top of laundry
• stay on top of dishes

******UPDATE******

Fit and Fabulous in 15 Minutes

Teresa Tapp

I started this post a few days ago with the intention of posting it sooner. Moxie's posted her official "Take Yourself Seriously 60-Day Challenge" and here's what I've decided to do:

1) Be more diligent with Natural Family Planning charting. I just started a new cycle, so this works out great! We're trying to avoid pregnancy right now and bad charting means very little sex. So, I guess this is a more sex commitment too (sorry for the TMI). :)

2) Devote specific time each day to prayer and Bible study. It's been too easy for me to let this slide lately. I need to make a conscience effort to put this back into my regular routine.

3) Start T-Tapp. I just ordered the book, so I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but at very least I need to start exercising regularly.

Anyone interested in taking the "Take Yourself Seriously 60-Day Challenge" with me?

Book:  Show us a great non-fiction book.

Taking Charge of Your Fertility

Toni Weschler

1 comment

Having two children so close together (my second and soon to be third child) has really got me thinking about birth control options. I love my children and, at the moment, haven't ruled out the idea of having more, but I really don't want to have them this close together again. Until this pregnancy, the idea of having kids so close together was a bit of a non-issue for me. Before we had our oldest son we didn't use any kind of birth control for about three years before conceiving him. So, forgive me if I didn't really consider myself the fertile type.

I've repeatedly talked to my GYN healthcare providers (usually a midwife in my case) about birth control options and the responses I get are to take something hormonal based (the pill, ring, etc.), get an IUD or use some kind of barrier method (condom or the like). None of these options are very appealing to me. I've not taken any form of birth control for the majority of the past six years (wow, that seems weird to think about in our culture), and, truthfully, I really like not taking birth control. For the short time I did take a hormonal birth control over the past six years (for about six months after the birth of my oldest son), it did not agree with me. I gained weight and at very least it didn't help things with my postpartum depression (at worst it contributed, perhaps even caused my PPD). I don't like the idea of anything as invasive as an IUD and as far as any long term use of a barrier method, well let's just say I'm married people! Are you kidding me! That's just not a realistic option for us. So, where does that leave us?

The Art of Natural Family Planning

Taking Charge of Your Fertility

1 comment

So, what are your thoughts on birth control options for married people? Do any of you have any practical experience using NFP or FAM?