Worldwide FertilityCare Week brings NFP pioneer to St. Louis

Submitted on March 13, 2008

Send to friendLater this month, Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Louis will be among those observing Worldwide FertilityCare Week. Among the activities planned here is a visit from Dr. Thomas W. Hilgers, one of the world’s pioneers in Natural Family Planning. Worldwide FertilityCare Week, which will be observed March 23-29, is sponsored by FertilityCare Centers of America Inc., a nonprofit organization established to promote the Creighton Model FertilityCare System and NaPro Technology. The system is one of several Church-approved methods of Natural Family Planning. This year’s theme for FertilityCare Week is, "Who Knew? Your Body Knows and Now You Know Too." Hilgers, founder and director of the internationally recognized Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Neb., will present "Faith and Science: Strange Bedfellows or Welcome Companions?" as the 13th annual Peter Richard Kenrick Lecture at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 27, at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, 5200 Glennon Drive in Shrewsbury. The event, sponsored by the seminary and its ordination class of 1944, is open to the public, but seating is limited. Reservations are required no later than Monday, March 24, and can be made by calling the seminary at (314) 792-6100. Hilgers, a former faculty member of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at St. Louis University School of Medicine, headed the team that developed the Creighton Model FertilityCare System. The team also included Hilgers’ wife, Susan Hilgers, and K. Diane Daly and Ann Prebil, supervisors of the Department of FertilityCare Services at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center. Research on the Creighton Model began at St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1976 and eventually moved to Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Neb., the following year. It model was first fully introduced in 1980. The scientifically based model teaches how to identify a woman’s fertile and infertile days through the observation and tracking of present physical markers. When used correctly, it has a 99.5 percent degree of accuracy in avoiding pregnancy and a high degree in achieving pregnancy. Hilgers also developed NaPro Technology, an emerging science that tracks a woman’s signs of fertility and infertility to assist in identifying physiological and hormonal problems. The method addresses common gynecological issues, including hormonal abnormalities such as low progesterone, polycystic ovarian disease, premenstrual syndrome, repetitive miscarriage, postpartum depression and chronic discharges, among other health issues. During his visit to St. Louis, Hilgers also will present "NaPro Technology: A Contemporary Effective Approach to Women’s Health Care," from 9-11 a.m. Friday, March 28, in the dePazzi Bentley Room in the Doctors’ Building at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center, 621 S. New Ballas Road in Creve Coeur. The talk is open to the public, but it is geared toward health care professionals. The event is sponsored by the Department of FertilityCare Services at St. John’s Mercy. Another planned event during FertilityCare Week is a display at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center on the Creighton Model and NaPro Technology. Sponsored by the Department of FertilityCare Services, the display will be in the main lobby of the medical center, 619 S. New Ballas Road, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday, March 25. Numerous locations across the archdiocese offer instruction in the Creighton Model FertilityCare System. They include: SSM DePaul Health Center (314) 344-7115; Fertility Care of Farmington (573) 631-1722; Hispanic NFP Ministry (314) 991-0327; NFP/St. Peters (636) 926-7850; St. Anthony’s Medical Center (314) 525-1800; St. John’s Mercy Medical Center-Creve Coeur (314) 991-0327; St. John’s Mercy Medical Center-O’Fallon (314) 991-0327; St. John’s Mercy Hospital-Washington (636) 239-8595; SSM St. Joseph’s Hospital-Kirkwood (314) 966-1609; SSM St. Joseph’s Hospital West-Lake St. Louis (636) 625-5484; SSM St. Joseph Health Center-St. Charles (636) 949-7110; SSM St. Mary’s Health Center-Richmond Heights (314) 768-8017. Several websites offer information on the Creighton Model FertilityCare System and NaPro Technology. They include: Creighton Model, www. creightonmodel.com; NaPro Technology, www.naprotechnology.com; Pope Paul VI Institute, www.popepaulvi.com; and FertilityCare Centers of America Inc., www.fertilitycare.org. For more information on locally planned events for Worldwide FertilityCare Week, call the Department of FertilityCare Services at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center at (314) 991-0327.