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!

Over 100 Participant Couples!

We just want to announce that we are now at 108 couples in the study. Thank you to all participants and practitioners for your involvement! We would like to encourage all of you to share your enthusiasm for the Creighton Model by talking to your friends and family about it! We would love to have more participants.

Check this out!

Hello Folks!

Here is an interesting video that we would like to share with you.
Please click on the link below to view it:

http://www.5min.com/Video/Natural-Family-Planning-427016389

If you find the clipping informative and useful, get your family and friends to watch it.

We're in the news!

Couples sought for family-planning study

The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated Jul 16, 2010 05:08PM

University of Utah medical researcher Joseph Stanford is looking for couples to participate in a national study into the Creighton method of Natural Family Planning (NFP).

Stanford is the lead researcher for the study, which is being funded by the U.S. Office of Public Health and Science. It will be conducted at 13 centers that teach couples to use the Creighton method, including the nonprofit that Stanford is involved with, Intermountain FertilityCare in Salt Lake City.

The Creighton method teaches couples how to know when the woman is ovulating and likely to get pregnant through charting of her vaginal discharges.

Though the method also can be used by those trying to get pregnant, researchers are looking for 300 couples who are beginning to use it to avoid pregnancy.

It has been 11 years since the last in-depth study, and the data need refreshing, Stanford said.

Plus, this study will look specifically at a dynamic practitioners have noticed: that 20 percent of the couples using the Creighton method to avoid pregnancy will at some point in the first year begin, instead, to use it to conceive.

So far, 50 have signed up, none of them in Utah.

Participants will need to get training in the Creighton method, which costs about $295 in the first year depending on how many times the couple meet with a trainer, and roughly $30 to $60 each year after that.

Most of the data will be gathered online and participants will be paid a small stipend, Stanford said.

Kristen Moulton

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/49935011-80/method-couples-creighton-information.html.csp

50 Couples (100 Participants)!

We are steadily increasing our numbers and we want to thank the practitioners for recruiting and the participants for their willingness to be a part of the study. Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Meet Daisy, the Study Participant Coordinator!

Daisy Krakowiak has recently completed her Master of Public Health degree at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She is on the study team for the Creighton Effectiveness, Intentions and Behavior Assessment (CEIBA), where she communicates regularly with study participants. Her career goals are to work in the areas of Global Health and Epidemiology. This summer, Daisy will be leading a public health trip to Ghana and will be assessing reproductive health near Kumasi.

Daisy graduated summa cum laude from the University of Utah with a triple bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Sociology, and Behavioral Science & Health as well as a minor in International Studies. In her spare time, she likes to travel, hike, and ski.

40 Couples (80 Participants)!

We would like to recognize all the hard work of our participating FertilityCare Practitioners who have worked hard to recruit more participants for our study. We would also like to thank all of our participants for keeping up with their questionnaires. However, we still need more participants -- we'd like to get 300 couples by December. Let's continue to work hard to make this happen!

Doubled our participants!

We now have 50 participants in our study (25 couples)! We want to give a special shout out to Nancy Matteoli in Sacramento for her hard work in enrolling clients this month!

Online consent has now been approved. This will allow potential participants to give their consent to participate right from our website!

In other good news, participants will now be reimbursed up to $40! Participants who have already joined will be reimbursed retroactively. We will be contacting you soon to get you your checks :)

Best,

Daisy Krakowiak
CEIBA Participant Coordinator

Hello Everybody,
The CEIBA study is rollin'and kicking! We have 26 participants(13 couples). We find this opportunity to thank the participating centers in their continued efforts to make the study a success and special round of applause to the participants for enrolling and completing the questionnaires.

Cheers

Ceiba Team
ceibastudy@gmail.com

(801) 231-6434

Participant Update!

Hello CEIBA Team and Participants!

I just wanted to update everyone that we now have 8 couples participating in the study, including a new couple from Duluth, MN. Team, thank you for your continued effort in recruitment. Participants, thank you for enrolling and completing your questionnaires!

Best,

Daisy Krakowiak
CEIBA Participant Coordinator
ceibastudy@gmail.com
(801) 231-6434