On the Feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, Saturday, July 26, the Billings Ovulation Method Association of Trinidad and Tobago (BOMA-TT) hosted a Couples Day at the Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption, Maraval.
The lead hosts were Dr Brian Phelps and his wife Pauline Phelps. The event was organised to set the context, create the atmosphere, expose reality and dispel misconceptions surrounding the Billings Ovulation Method®, for couples in exercising informed choices for sequencing their families.
To set the context, couples enjoyed a guided prayer journey, driven by love, as a total gift of self. It is this love as a total gift of self, rather than self-seeking love that increases the likelihood for the Billings Ovulation Method® to realise greater success.
What a journey of prayer for couples to have experienced and learnt, for enrichment of the atmosphere in the home, opening channels of communication in the relationship, cooperation throughout the marriage and for the outpouring of generosity towards each other in relations! Couples learned that praying in this way opens the heart and helps prepare fertile ground in which the Billings Ovulation Method® can take root.
Just as Creation is central to Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, so it is, in the Billings Ovulation Method®. Brian and Pauline explained that both unravel God’s plan for salvation and the purpose of human love and marriage. The creation of man is not fully Imago Dei until the creation of woman and the two become one flesh, giving themselves to each other, totally, freely, faithfully as well as, fruitfully. The freedom is not one of freedom from responsibility but freedom from lust—a self-seeking emotion.
The issue of freedom was faced head-on at the event. A common criticism against the Billings Ovulation Method® is its control of freedom. In fact, Pauline and Brian rolled out the tool involving planning or postponing pregnancy, daily observation of cervical mucous patterns together with overall female reproductive, even general health and systematic documentation of these observations.
Amongst other testimonials that were live and recorded, couples had a rare opportunity to listen to the experience of Osano and Junea Schelborn, a young, recently married couple using the Billings Ovulation Method® to postpone pregnancy until after studies.
They admitted to the challenges of loss of spontaneity and urge of the flesh, but they lauded the benefits of communication and cooperation in their relationship that far outweighed this challenge. They even offered some practical effective solutions for distraction.
As Pauline and Brian explained, a key aspect of the Method is observation of the sensation and appearance of the mucous produced by the cervix and evident on the vulva during the woman’s reproductive cycle.
Couples learned that BOMA-TT offers coaching on how they can recognise the changing patterns of the mucous consistency within a cycle. Using a sponge moistened with liquids of different consistencies likened to the sensation experienced by women at different stages of their cycle, couples got practice in how they may distinguish between when they could be fertile or infertile.
With this introduction, couples came to the realisation that the colloquial term of rhythm method or natural rhythm method involving some sort of time series for forecasting fertile or infertile periods, is not synonymous with the Billings Ovulation Method® and can be misleading.
The alternative, involving the use of exogenous hormonal contraceptives was examined for balance. Couples were exposed to the research findings that suggest that exogenous hormonal contraceptives may trigger mood changes, weight gain, nausea and breast tenderness, breakthrough bleeding, headaches, libido changes, body awareness disruption, blood clots and reduced bone density.
The Schelborns testified that their awareness of these risks was quite influential in driving them towards the adoption of the use of the Billings Ovulation Method®.
BOMA-TT is both an affiliate of WOOMB International in Australia and a Ministry of the Archdiocesan Family Life Commission (AFLC). BOMA-TT is active throughout the length and breadth of this country advocating for the natural method of fertility awareness and regulation for family planning and for monitoring women’s health. Lead advocate and Coordinator, Pauline Phelps may be reached at (868) 384-1659 or email naturalfertility@catholictt.org or billingstt@gmail.com