Earlier this month, fertility specialists gathered at a conference in Omaha, USA. Observing was Perth’s own DR AMANDA LAMONT, who writes exclusively for The Record about how the radical work by a self-described ‘anti-establishment Med student’ is changing the lives of many Perth couples
In September 2010 Omaha celebrated 25 years since the opening of the Pope Paul VI Institute by Dr Thomas Hilgers, an obstetrician gynaecologist who has dedicated his life’s work to fulfilling the mandate of Humanae Vitae released by Pope Paul VI in 1968.
His work so far has resulted in the development of the Creighton model FertilityCare system (in Australia and increasingly in the US, it is simply known as ‘FertilityCare’, with his approval), a charting system designed to provide a daily accurate record of a woman’s reproductive health, and subsequently NaProTechnology, a new reproductive medical science which is now in use all over the world to help women and couples experiencing subfertility and womens’ health problems.
NaProTechnology evolved from the standardisation of the FertilityCare system, which for the first time allowed the accurate comparision of womens’ charts, so that reliable indicators for normal and abnormal reproductive function could be determined.
Dr Hilgers is often quoted as describing the FertilityCare charting system as ‘a gynaecologist’s dream’. In trained medical hands it is an outstanding tool in the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of reproductive health problems.
Partnered with FertilityCare, NaProTechnology provides a treatment programme which is both natural and medical, minimally invasive, highly effective, ethically sound, and enriching for marriages.
It truly represents medicine at the service of the human person, at the service of nature, at the service of marriage and at the service of Life.
At an education programme in Omaha many years ago I was one of many who had the opportunity to publicly honour Dr Hilgers for his work during the recording of a segment for local TV.
I hadn’t realised until that moment how much this man and his faithfulness to God’ call on his life had impacted on my life.
Little did I know then that this impact would spread all the way to Perth, Australia and Australasia. I could honestly testify then that he was the only reason I was still practicing medicine.
I first heard about FertilityCare at Craig Lodge, in Dalmally, Scotland. I was doing some admin work at the Catholic retreat house, having left Australia on a one-way ticket with a deep disenchantment with medicine in general, after working in hospitals and as a GP in Perth for several years.
I had started GP training part-time in Scotland but resigned before the end of the year, convinced that this type of medicine was ‘not for me’. I felt I could have been more useful to my patients in any other role than being their doctor, as most of my prescriptions and advice seemed simply to be facilitating a way of life which was causing them such pain.
I wrote in my journal: ‘it is a medicine for Life that I am seeking’, not believing that it actually existed. In FertilityCare and NaProTechnology I have found this and more.
Actually, I say that ‘FertilityCare found me’, the answer to my prayer, as I had given up on medicine completely. I am deeply grateful to Dr Thomas Hilgers for giving me the opportunity to practice a true ‘medicine for Life’.
In our work at the Magnificat FertilityCare centre in Yokine I am reminded of this phrase ‘a medicine for Life’ on a regular basis.
Everything that we offer, from the decor of the practice to the administrative care, to the work of the charting teachers to the extended length of medical appointments, all are geared towards caring for each person in their own unique set of circumstances.
NaProTechnology is a fantastic medical tool, leading us through a logical pathway of diagnosis, treatment and monitoring, using standard medical techniques and medications including some natural hormones, and surgery when required.
Each couple experiencing subfertility are offered specific treatments for their own individual reproductive issues, aiming to diagnose and fix the subfertility problem, so that they can conceive naturally and maintain their pregnancy to full term.
Similarly, women’s health problems are treated with the aim of restoring full gynaceological health without suppressing the natural procreative cycles.
Long appointments and frequent contact with caregivers offers the opportunity for a strong therapeutic relationship between the couple and their doctor and team.
This relationship in itself is often part of the healing process.
The response of our couples is overwhelming: ‘Why didn’t someone tell me this before?’ (on learning how to chart cycles using the FertilityCare system), ‘Why didn’t someone do these tests before?’ (on being investigated for hormonal causes of miscarriage) and ‘We feel like you actually care about us’ (on the nature of the FertilityCare treatment program in comparision with previous IVF treatment).
We hear from couples that their marriages become stronger through their use of the system (to quote one couple ‘even if we never conceive a baby, we are glad we have used this system because it has taught us so much about each other and ourselves that we could otherwise not have learned’).
This is truly a medicine for Life in the gospel sense of ‘Life to the full’ cf John 10:10. FertilityCare and NaProTechnology are not only statistically highly effective in helping couples to hold their own beautiful baby in their arms, they also innately serve to magnify the beauty of the human dignity of each person involved.
It is estimated that approximately 40 to 50 per cent of couples will conceive a baby and maintain their pregnancy using FertilityCare and NaProTechnology. This is an approximation because each treatment programme is specific to the reproductive health problems of each couple, so the exact pregnancy rate will vary from situation to situation.
Since the opening of the first FertilityCare and NaProTechnology centre at St John of God Subiaco in Perth in 2002, similar centres have now opened in Melbourne, regional Victoria, Sydney, regional NSW, Adelaide, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Canberra, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia.
There will be three doctors offering NaProTechnology at the Magnificat FertilityCare centre from October this year, when Dr Catherine Hurworth will be joining the team. Three FertilityCare Practitioners (teachers of the charting system) and two administrative managers complete the team at the centre, with a specialist surgeon and team of counsellors and dieticians located off-site.
For more information call Ella at the centre on 9440 4530.