Thanks to everyone's hard work we now have more than 250 participating couples!

See Our Article on Healthy Lifestyle

Check us out on Healthy Lifestyle!

We now have more than 220 couples enrolled in the study! Thank you all for your hard work in making this happen. You are really making a difference! Keep up the good work!

Find us on Modern Alternative Mama!

Click here to read our article on Modern Alternative Mama!

More than 200 couples!

‎34 new participants in the last 31 days! Good job to the CEIBA team and our FertilityCare practitioners!

FertilityCare Video

Take a look at this video from FertilityCare to learn more about the Creighton Model.

Have you read about us on EngagedMarriage.com?

Check out our article here!

Great Week!

It was a good week with 10 more couples entering the study! Keep spreading the word to family and friends!

Jenny Hatch Youtube Video

Here is the youtube video of Dr. Proucznik's interview on the Jenny Hatch Radio Show.

Involving your man in learning and charting Creighton

I grew up talking to my mother, aunts, and grandmother about the birds and the bees.  Being raised in a family of strong women I had never been bashful about talking about my body's interesting quirks.  I knew that talking to the Creighton Model instructor would not be a big deal.  However, I underestimated my husband's ability to sit in a room and discuss my cervical mucus.  The first couple of meetings where we learned the process together, my husband sat stone faced and cross armed.  I worried that I was pushing him to do something he was uncomfortable with and that because he was so uncomfortable with the class that this couldn't work for us.  But when we would get in the car for the drive home, he opened up to me.  It was in the car that he would discuss what we were learning.  My husband started to take an active interest in the charting as he grew more comfortable with talking about our fertility.  Now he and I are equals in charting knowledge.  He still goes to the follow-ups with me, but he still won't talk much.

My advise for the ladies with men who are reluctant with the meetings, would be to just give them time.  Something we have been talking about since we were girls is new territory for our men, they have a steep learning curve to catch up on.  Once my husband grew comfortable talking about charting (with me) it has changed the way we deal with our fertility.  It has certainly been a blessing to me and our marriage.

- Stephanie from North Carolina

Listen to Our Recent Interview!

Click here and listen to Dr. Porucznik's interview about CEIBA on the Jenny Hatch Radio Show!

Enrollment Update

We are now at 156 participants! Thank you to all participants and practitioners for being a part of the study! We are still enrolling, so please share this page with your friends!

Managing PCOS and how Green Day got its name

When I was 18, I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and promptly put on birth control to control my symptoms. Later, I was inspired to do some research on the pill I was taking (I am a scientist, and so I rarely take what people say as fact without doing some research on it first), and I discovered that it does thin the lining of the uterus to prevent implantation. I immediately stopped taking my pill, and started researching natural family planning programs. Since I have a history of PCOS, I went to some forums and searched the best methods, and Creighton Model was consistently the most trusted. I attended the introductory session a few weeks later and was on board with my wonderful Certified FertilityCare Practitioner Elizabeth. I'm still learning how to manage my PCOS, but I really love charting and knowing exactly what's going on in my body. My husband was reluctant (but supportive) at first, but he is slowly starting to participate in the process ("Is today a green day?!"...he is now convinced that that's how the band "Green Day" got their name). I find it hard to contain my enthusiasm about it, and so almost everyone I work with probably knows a little too much information about my cycle! We have thus far been using Creighton Model to prevent pregnancy, but are getting excited to use it to achieve pregnancy. A couple we met at our church actually told us that they had been struggling for years to get pregnant, and that it wasn't until they started Creighton Model that they made their beautiful baby girl!

- Stephanie from Texas

Using Creighton, instead of the pill, to address health and plan a family

I had been on birth control since my teenage years because of issues with my menstrual cycle (irregular, heavy bleeding, unbearable cramping, mood swings, etc) and I had seen a lot of the side effects it had on my body. As we began looking into it, we learned that using the Creighton Model would help me figure out some of my female issues as well as provide a way to avoid pregnancy. I quickly realized that birth control was just a band-aid solution. Through learning to chart from a nurse (and having a good doctor), we would be able to figure out exactly where the issues stem from so we can fix it naturally rather than putting synthetic hormones into my body. My husband and I started learning the Creighton Model a few months before our wedding and it was not hard, it's just a commitment. We always felt extremely supported! We couldn't be happier knowing that we are preventing pregnancy naturally and when the time comes for us to have children, we are confident that this model will help us achieve pregnancy just as easily as we were able to prevent it. Being a part of the CEIBA study is very important to us, as well. We want to show others that Natural Family Planning is a healthy and effective way to avoid pregnancy. We just wish that more people knew about it!

- Sarah from Missouri

A Personal Story about Using the Creighton Model

My parents used Natural Family Planning when they had my brother and I, and it worked like a charm for them. As I got older and most of my friends began taking the pill, I always held off because I knew there were better options. When my husband and I got engaged, we began talking about the Creighton Model and went to our area facilitator to set up meetings. As a Catholic, I appreciate that it helps me and my husband understand and work with the natural cycles God gave me. As a hippie, I appreciate that I'm not putting any foreign chemicals or hormones in my body that don't belong there. And as a broke grad student, I appreciate that it's one of the cheapest (successful) options out there!

So far, using it has been difficult for my husband and me. For months, my cycles have been abnormal and haven't developed any kind of pattern. While this has been frustrating, it has alerted me that I may need to seek medical attention to determine whether or not there's something I should be worried about. We're contacting a local doctor who's familiar with the Creighton Model to go over my charts with me and run some tests. If I hadn't been charting my cycles, I might never have known something was off until it was too late.

--Emily from South Carolina

Check out a new Creighton Model video!