Now Offering New Method of Natural Family Planning
What’s your first thought when you hear the term “natural family planning?” Rhythm Method? Not necessarily so, says Dr. Paul Gray at the Woman’s Clinic. Dr. Gray has found a better way and is now offering his patients the Creighton Model Fertility Care™ System of natural family planning (NFP).

Dr. Gray is an advocate of ALL methods of natural family planning. His practice methodology focuses on offering alternatives to traditional methods of birth control and he wants to ensure that women are given their options in a pressure free environment. Dr. Gray now manages gynecological problems such as heavy periods, frequent periods, and pelvic pain without the use of birth control pills. Dr. Gray helps women to achieve or not achieve pregnancy by using the natural family planning practice. Dr. Gray is no longer performing tubal ligations with his patients. For patients that are having difficulty achieving pregnancy, Dr. Gray is able to manage their care with alternatives other than In Vitro Fertilization.

Dr. Gray has undergone a thorough training program over a year and a half using the Creighton Model system.

Before 2009, NFP wasn’t on Dr. Gray’s list of options for his patients. In his fourteen years of practice, the answer for most gynecological problems such as Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) or painful periods has been birth control pills. He became interested in NFP. One method he works with is the Creighton Model because it has a medical component that allows him to monitor the woman’s health and manage problems without the use of contraceptives. 

“I learned an awesome amount of information; information not taught in medical school,” he related. “I feel like I had kindergarten knowledge before about NFP; now I feel that I have a college degree in it.” Having more expert knowledge about the menstrual cycle, he has more confidence that this system can work.

The Creighton Model is more precise, giving a 2-3 day window of opportunity for pregnancy instead of 7-10 days with the rhythm method.

“The rhythm method is based on when you think you’re ovulating versus when you know you’re ovulating.” He continues, “The rhythm method is a guessing game—guessing when ovulation will occur based on the length of the menstrual cycle.”

The pregnancy rate using the rhythm method is greater than 20 percent. With the Creighton Model, the rate is 1-3 percent, similar to that of birth control pills but with none of the potential side effects from the pill.

Determination of that 2-3 day window is based solely on mucous as a biological marker. These “biomarkers” tell the couple when they are naturally fertile, allowing them the opportunity to choose to achieve pregnancy or avoid it.

The Creighton Model is remarkably effective. A large study reported in the June 1998 Journal of Reproductive Medicine revealed that this system has an effectiveness rate of 99.5 percent with perfect use and 96.8 percent with typical use. For couples wanted to achieve pregnancy, the effectiveness rate is 76 percent in the first cycle of use and 98 percent by the sixth cycle.

In addition, it is almost three times more successful than Invitro Fertilization for assisting infertile couples and does not result in early abortions or frozen embryos. Multiple pregnancy rates are ten times lower than that with artificial reproductive technologies. It has a 95 percent success rate for treating PMS and a 95 percent success rate for treating postpartum depression.

When a patient comes in to his office, he explains all the options, including NFP. He says he is amazed at the positive response to the program. 

If the couple decides to proceed, they receive a book in which to chart daily. They return for follow-up and chart review every two weeks for two months. “Charting” he says, “doesn’t take a lot of time; only about 30 seconds a day.” It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s couple-building, it’s less expensive than most other options and it has no side effects. It’s the natural choice for family planning.

Dr. Gray is a graduate of Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He obtained his degree in medicine from Louisiana State University in New Orleans and served his residency at the University of Tennessee, Memphis. He is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology. He and his wife, Rebecca Burrow Gray, enjoy spending time with and home schooling their five children. In his spare time he enjoys working the horses on his farm in West Tennessee and fishing back home in Louisiana.