Question 112

WHAT ARE HELPFUL HINTS TO FIND A NFP DOCTOR?

So you want to find an NFP doctor?

Here’s how to pave the way for an NFP-supportive practice in your community. 

-Kathleen M. Basi,  

  1. Recruit teachers and promote NFP. The more people who use NFP, the more likely that some of our students will be doctors. And the larger the patient base, the easier it is for a doctor to choose not to prescribe birth control. 
  2. Network with users of other NFP methods to create a presence in the local community. 
  3. Evangelize your doctors. “If women and couples can be more courageous about saying, ‘We use NFP,’ there may be a doctor who is on the verge of conversion,” Dr. Kathleen Kobbermann, MD, said. “They can be a voice of hope and plant a seed.”
    1. Sponsor an open-minded doctor to attend CCL’s physicians’ seminar. Since 2002, more than a 100 doctors have learned not only the method, but how to establish an NFP supportive practice. “We know of a couple cases where the seminar did encourage people to get off the fence,” said Rich Braun, CCL’s seminar coordinator.
    2. Hit them in the pocketbook. Emphasize how many patients they could gain by supporting NFP. “When I stopped prescribing, I suddenly realized how many patients I had who didn’t (use birth control),” Kobbermann said. “The support that they gave me was phenomenal. People specifically switched to me because I wasn’t prescribing anymore.” 
  4. Encourage your bishop. Bishops can make NFP a priority at a diocesan level. Also, “There are thousands of Catholic docs out there,” said Vince Sacksteder of One More Soul. “We think that direct contact with their bishop would turn most of them around.” 
  5. Pray. 
  6. Take political action. Although the period for public comment on conscience protection is now closed, future opportunities are likely to surface. As Dr. Brian Gosser said, “It takes good people doing nothing to result in problems.” http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml offers links to contact federal and state elected officials. 

Furthermore, there are many physicians who are supportive of NFP, but who also prescribe hormones as a method of birth control. Often, such physicians can read an NFP chart and provide sound counsel to women. If you cannot find an NFP-only physician in your area, seek one who fits this description. There are many instances in which these physicians eventually discontinued prescribing or recommending birth control, sterilization or abortion after seeing many patients who understand their fertility signs and apply NFP. Prayer and subtle encouragement are common actions that can lead to conversion.

 (Taken from Family Foundations, Sept/Oct 2009, p. 10)