NaPro Surgeon Signs with Richmond Hospital

Today I got an email from a reader who is also trying to help support  napro. She mentioned that a new napro trained surgeon will be opening up her practice in Richmond Virginia in August of 2012. I am so excited to share this news. We need to keep passing on good news like this, so that everyone can see that napro is growing. Here is some info about the new dr with a link to the full article.

http://www.nfpworksblog.com/2011/12/14/napro-surgeon-signs-with-richmond-hospital/

Christine Louise Cimo Hemphill, M.D. is an obstetrician/gynecologist who is completing her fellowship training in Medical & Surgical NaProTECHNOLOGY with Dr. Thomas Hilgers, co-creator of the Creighton Model FertilityCare System.

In August, 2012, she starts at a new practice at St. Francis Medical Center, a hospital within the Bon Secours Hospital System in the Richmond, Virginia area. Her focus will be mainly infertility patients, but will continue to practice general obstetrics and gynecology.

It will be great to have another surgeon on the east coast.  If you are FCP in the Richmond area, be sure to mark your calendar.

Two Years of Creighton Model Charting Completed

Today I started my 5th chart. At first I was really bummed to start a new chart bc that means AF is here. I started to think about how I have been charting for two years and how far I have come.

When I first started TTC back before napro I did a BBT chart. That is when I first diagnosed myself with a short luteal phase. I was so proud to show my obgyn but then he told me it was a waste of time and would only cause me stress. Then I went for two years with no charts at all. The RE did not belive in any type of charting either. The RE told me my cycles were normal bc they were 28 days long.

When I first started napro in November of 2009 I was happy to be able to record some data again. They not only encouraged it but they needed this information to make a personal diagnosis.  Right from the start my charts gave my napro dr some valuable information. (Up to this point I had been labeled unexplained and the RE had told me that nothing was wrong with me.) The first issue discovered was my TEBB. I was shocked because I had it my whole life and thought it was normal. I never ever had any gyn dr ask me what my af was like. They always said I was normal bc I had 28 day cycle.

Then right away another issue popped up. I had really long CM cycles. The funny thing is that before charting I never knew that CM even existed. I remember when I went off BCP that I saw something weird. Now I laugh at myself because it was a large amount of CM. I had never had it before bc I was on BCP for so many years. Then even went I went off them I was not looking for it so I did not know that it was normal. Charting taught me some really important facts about the human body that I did not know.

Charting also helped me to realize that I would never ever need to go back on BCP. At this point  being that I am still IF, and have some blood clotting issues I would never go back on them anyway. But, if the need ever came up, I now have the skills to be able to plan naturally. I wish I was taught this stuff way back when. They taught me about BCP in public school. Around the same time period in religious ed they told me not to use it, but they never told us what we could do. Even at our wedding prep, there was only a pamphlet. When you are 25 and think you know it all why would you bother?? I really wish that class was a mandatory part of pre-cana. 

So back to my charts. Well my peak day was also late around day 21 which goes with the 28 day cycles that appear to be normal but in reality I had a short luteal phase. I had surgery and my peak day started to move closer to cd 15. I still struggled with long cm cycle but at least I was able to get off of the yellow stamps.

So after two years of charting: my peak day is now around 14-16, my cm cycle is now in the normal range. I still need to take progesterone supplements or I will have a short luteal phase. At least AF is predictable which makes life easier when dealing with events, trip, dr apts etc. When I stop the supplements af arrives on the 4th day after. I like to time it so when I need to go in on day 3 for my us it does not land on the  weekend when the dr is closed.

I am so glad that I learned how to chart. I have a record of my cycle for the past two years. I can see the progress that I have made. My charts look more normal. There are patterns that help me to plan my life. I learned a lot about my body and found a healthy natural way to regulate my cycles.

I had my annual review session with my FCP. She is so wonderful. We talk on the phone bc even though she is the closet to me, she still lives hours away. She gave me a good grade on my charts. She encouraged me to become a FCP. Honestly I would love to, but it is a big commitment which is one of the reasons the program is so great. I wish they had a FCP juniors I would love to get trained on the first session. I would go around and make the rounds at pre-cana or some sort of meeting. I would explain the program and give an intro to a group. Then I would provide them with info on the FCP to work with. I am a teacher and I would love to teach the basics and get other women excited about the program. We don't have anyone in our area and it would be great to generate interest. Maybe then someone else would want to become a full term FCP.

I encourage anyone who has not been through the program to learn how to chart. Let me know if you need information on who to contact to get started.

New Article: Gianna Center

I like to search Google news for infertility topics to see what is new. I was surprised today when I saw a photo of Dr. Beiter and his nurse Jamey in an article about the Gianna Center in NJ.
Here is the link, Pass it on.
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The Gianna Center for Women’s Health is named after Italian pediatrician St. Gianna Beretta Molla, who sacrificed her life for her unborn child in 1962, and embodies the saint’s devotion to Catholic morals. The FertilityCare certified center offers women natural ways to overcome infertility, a condition that affects about 7.3 million women of childbearing age.

Affiliated with St. Peter’s University Hospital and located on Easton Avenue in New Brunswick, the center officially opened its doors to patients in November 2010 and is steadily increasing in popularity.
The original Gianna center, located in Manhattan, opened in 2009 with funding by the former St. Vincent’s Hospital and is now privately owned.
St. Peter’s University Hospital lacked sufficient fertility care resources in 2010 and reached out to Beiter and Anne Meilnik, M.D. who is the director of the New York office.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the therapies used by other practitioners are destructive to early human life,” center director, obstetrician, and gynecologist Kyle Beiter, M.D., said. “We aim to respect human life at all ages, from the embryo to the old adult. This is not always easy or convenient to do but we believe that it is the right thing to do.”

Aside from general ob/gyn consultations and treatment, the center promotes NaProTECHNOLOGY and the Creighton Model FertilityCare System, two natural fertility treatment methods based on patient education and pattern observation. The hospital is the first in the state to offer these methods, Beiter said.
Beiter studied NaProTECHNOLOGY under a selective fellowship at Pope Paul VI Institute in Omaha with Thomas Hilgers, M.D., the chief researcher of NaPro.

The Gianna Center is part of a network of 200 to 300 centers across the country that provide NaProTECHNOLOGY, most of which are run by family practitioners who refer to gynecologists like Beiter for procedures on a weekly, if not daily basis.Referrals are received from a wide range of areas, including but not limited to Massachusetts, Connecticut, the Tri-State area, and Florida.

“There are many women who don’t want contraception or birth control forced on them, and don’t want abortion as an option,” Beiter said in a press release. “For those reasons, we have found, many of them hadn’t gone to a gynecologist in years.”
Patients can choose to use the care-based procedures as alternatives to control-based methods such as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) for treating infertility, or to avoid pregnancy by identifying detailed patterns in her menstrual cycle.

In avoiding pregnancy, the system is 96 percent effective; Birth control pills have a 92 percent effectiveness rate, according to Beiter.  “With fertility, our goal is to help conception through active intercourse between husband and wife, the most natural way,” Beiter said. “[Patients] respond in favor to it though we don’t force it on anyone.”

The center provides patients with additional testing to determine whether IVF can be avoided and if the couple can proceed with a natural pregnancy after treatment at the center. Because the center does not use IVF, an important goal is removing all disease.
Dr. Hilgers made significant developments in adhesion to reduce scar tissue build up, which is a common problem after surgery, according to Beiter.

“Our philosophy is that you can equal results by putting out far less cash out of your pocket,” Phillip Hartman, Director of Public Relations for St. Peter’s University Hospital said of the treatment, which is much less expensive for patients than IVF.
The center appeals to Catholic patients who hold ethical concerns as well as those who seek a more natural treatment.