Natural Family Planning

The Cana Movement has been teaching Natural Family Planning (NFP) to engaged and married couples since the first years of its foundation in 1956, as it opened its first NFP clinic in 1961. In 1975 it set up the NFP Unit, bringing together a team of trained NFP teachers, with the aim of providing in-service training to its teachers, training new teachers, and teaching NFP methods both in small groups, and on an individual basis.

Along the years, many volunteers, including doctors, nurses, midwives and NFP teachers, have given their services to thousands of couples wanting to plan their family in a natural way in harmony with the teachings of the Catholic Church. The training of personnel is given great importance in order to ensure that the couples receive the best professional and updated information and support possible.

The Cana Movement organises 5-lecture courses in NFP, which give in-depth information about the male and female physiology and thorough knowledge of the Sympto-Thermal Method, which include the major indicators such as the Basal Body Temperature, the Mucus Method and the Cervical Palpation Method. Minor signs and other information related to the woman/mother’s well being are also covered. This course is spread over a period of ten weeks to make it possible for the couple to obtain confidence in the interpretation of their signs and charts. Individual follow-ups are held with the NFP teacher after the course ends, until the couple is autonomous. Couples are encouraged to take up the course around 12 to 18 months before getting married.

The Cana Movement currently has a team of 20 NFP educators, 10 NFP speakers (including 5 couples) and 3 tutors. All members of the team offer their services on a voluntary basis. All team members have undergone a training course, and sat for a final exam. It is compulsory for the team members to attend an annual update.
A training course is basically held every two years, starting in October and ending in June with continuous supervision as necessary. It is important that applicants for these positions are NFP users themselves, in order to facilitate comprehension of the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject.

The NFP courses for engaged couples are held three times a year, namely in January, April and October. They are held at Cana Movement’s premises in Floriana as well as in many parishes around Malta and Gozo. Around 21 courses are held annually with an average attendance of 14 couples to every course. A fee of Lm5 (11.65 euros) is charged for the course.