Choosing When to Become a Mother (Without Hormonal Tinkering)

Happy Mother’s Day!

There is nothing — and I do mean nothing — more rewarding than being a mother. We care for our young. We teach them to care for themselves. We protect. We nurture. We love, and we are loved in return.

But choosing when to become a mother involves careful decision making.

Perhaps we need to assess our stability — financial or situational. Maybe we have a big enough brood already, and we don’t want to add more children to our family. (The more ducklings you have, the harder it is to keep them in a row!)

Whatever our reason for delaying motherhood at any particular moment, we need not succumb to drugs of commerce — birth control pills or Depo-Provera shots that can usher in long-term hormonal disruption.

I’ve written about natural birth control before in Ditch Birth Control Pills and Natural Birth Control: The NEW, Up-to-Date Way. In response to those articles, I’ve heard from several of you about your successful experiences with the Billings Ovulation Method®.

I personally counted on this method after taking a class 30 years ago, taught by a nurse practitioner at our local Catholic hospital in Buffalo, New York. 

But here’s the funny part: I didn’t know it was called the Billings method! Apparently, this is an updated version and more readily available. 

In her book, The Billings Method of Natural Family Planning: Controlling Fertility Without Drugs or Devices, Evelyn Billings teaches how to recognize the clues about your fertility that your body presents during your cycle, allowing you to determine when conception would be most likely.

As one reviewer on Amazon said, “Using this information, I was able to prevent pregnancy, without using other means of birth control, until I was ready to start trying to conceive. And, once I was ready to conceive, I was aware of my fertile signs, and I got pregnant on the first try!”

The book details the scientific background (including trials documenting its effectiveness) and carefully explains what a user must do to achieve that effectiveness.

This is powerful information that every woman should possess!

One of my students, an astute nurse practitioner, brings up another perceptive point I’d like to share (with her permission, of course):

“Natural Family Planning (NFP) has the unfortunate connotation that it ‘doesn’t work’ due to very ‘successful’ messaging that has been passed on to the public and health care providers.

I use the Billings method name, so people have another name without the negative connotation.

The value of the Billings method is the human factor — a human being working with you and explaining and validating the meaning of your observations of your body’s signals, AND the human factor of being supported through the learning curve, especially in the context of universal skepticism around NFP. The availability of this support is unknown to most.” 

If maintaining control over the timing and size of your brood — without resorting to hormonal disrupters — is important to you, I encourage you to investigate the official Billings Ovulation Method® website for more information. 

As we celebrate motherhood on this day, I encourage you also to celebrate the control and self-reliance you have over your health by utilizing homeopathy (of course!) along with other complementary modalities such as the Billings method.

For instance, as you become more familiar with your monthly cycle (especially if you are coming off hormonal birth control drugs, which you should do ASAP for too many reasons to mention here), you may notice months in which you experience heavier than normal menses. A simple Banerji Protocol I learned through my observations at the Prasanta Banerji Homeopathic Research Foundation provides an effective homeopathic response: Sabina 6, every three hours as an SOS during the flooding, mixed with Arnica 3 for pain.

The Sabina and Arnica are combined to make a single medicine. Each single remedy can simply be put in the mouth simultaneously — making the two medicines into one powerful action. Alternatively, these remedies can be purchased as one medicine from OHM Pharma (available to my clients and students).

To help all of you women gain knowledge about your own bodies and build the confidence you need to address your health, I am preparing to relaunch my popular course, Feminopathy. (Now at a special Mother’s day discounted price.)

To mark the relaunch, I plan to make it Mother’s Month instead of Mother’s Day! Over the next few weeks, I’ll focus my articles on two issues mothers care about — homeopathic resolutions for breastfeeding problems, and another common concern during pregnancy, diastasis recti.

These conditions — and so many more — are explained more fully in the Feminopathy course. (You can see the syllabus here.)

Is there a better gift to give a mother than advanced homeopathic knowledge?

Perhaps you and your family should consider the course as your Mother’s Day gift! You’ve heard me say it before: Dig a moat around your family and protect them from the so-called medical “expert” culture. Hone your ability to provide gentle, effective, non-suppressive healthcare at home.

You’ll be the hero, and I’ll be your guide.

Warmly,

P.S. Remember — all of my Mighties (Joette’s Mighty Members) qualify for an additional 10% discount on course purchases. If you need assistance getting your discount, email [email protected] for more information.

Photo Credit: June Kittay