Natural family planning (NFP) is not just a “woman” thing, it’s a shared fertility control with both the man and the woman. Granted, the woman is the one who has to keep meticulous daily records of her fertility signs and symptoms, but her husband can also be actively involved in the method too.
Whether you are using NFP for birth control or for pregnancy achievement, both the husband and wife can be involved in the routine of charting.
For starters, the husband can keep up with the chart while the wife makes sure she takes her temperature and checks her cervical fluid/position – she can tell him the results and he can keep the chart. In fact, let’s call him “keeper of the chart.” That chart, after all, is paramount to the success in either birth control or in pregnancy achievement. If you want to add a bit of escapade into the mix – let the husband be the one to check the cervical position. This makes him an active participant and heightens the otherwise mundane task with new possibilities.
With that said, the routine of NFP has to follow some strict guidelines in use for birth control. Abstaining from sexual intercourse creates times of challenge if you are a very active couple. This can be an adventuresome time if you use your imagination. Both the husband and wife can be active in finding ways of satisfying the desire for sexual intercourse through other means. Use your imagination here and take turns coming up with different and fun things to do.
It might be a night out – parking – or time in front of a fireplace cuddling, or a full-body massage. The possibilities are endless. And the possibilities are even more so if pregnancy is the goal. Just put on your romance cap, open up your heart, and let your imagination soar.
Don’t allow the practice of NFP to be all that the wife does. Get the husband involved and actually have fun with it! Life is meant to be celebrated and enjoyed – not dreaded or looked at as a burdensome task. Enjoy each other!