A free program focused on menstrual cycle education for teenage girls and their parents will be launched at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte starting Oct. 13. Entitled “teenFEMM” (short for “Fertility Education and Medical Management”), the program was developed by the World Youth Alliance, which advocates for pro-life and pro-family policy at the United Nations.
Rather than wait to first introduce couples to the information as part of marriage preparation, Batrice Adcock, director of the Natural Family Planning Program of Catholic Charities, wants to educate young women and their parents in this knowledge-based health program that teaches them to understand and monitor hormonal and other indicators of their health.
“Teens will come to understand how their bodies work,” Adcock notes. “They will see how daily choices about food, sleep and exercise effect their menstrual cycles and overall health. The teens will be empowered to take charge of their health.
“We will teach teens to recognize normal and abnormal patterns in their menstrual cycles. In the case of an abnormality, specially trained medical professionals can provide more accurate testing, diagnosis and treatment by working with biological indicators provided by the teen’s own observations.”
“Often, the first sign of an underlying health problem is an irregularity in the menstrual cycle, most easily identified and treated during the teen years,” Adcock adds.
Monitoring her cycle, the teen has access to a monthly report card reflecting her health, equivalent to another vital sign, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“We want to give teens and their parents access to a diagnostic tool and medical management for menstrual problems that far exceeds what is available to them in the band-aid approach of the pill. The pill does not treat the underlying cause of their problems, but puts them at risk for depression, breast cancer and blood clots, to name a few,” Adcock says.
Such programs have also been shown to delay the onset of sexual activity, decrease sexual activity in sexually-active youth and improve attitudes towards abstinence.
The program at St. Vincent de Paul Church will begin with Mass and will be followed with a talk on the dignity women have being made female in God’s image. Adcock will then present to parents first, then their daughters, information about the menstrual cycle. A similar program is being piloted for young men and will be launched in the diocese when it is available.
“We want to help teens to become vibrant and healthy and to come to a deep appreciation of their gender,” Adcock says. :”I often meet young women in the context of marriage preparation who would have liked to learn about their menstrual cycles as teens or even earlier, with the onset of puberty.”
For details about teenFEMM and to attend the free program, contact Adcock at 704-370-3230 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
— Catholic News Herald
At www.ccdoc.org/natural-family-planning: Learn more about natural family planning classes being held across the diocese, and find helpful guides on NFP apps, NFP-supportive doctors and much more
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Natural Family Planning and other life-changing programs at Catholic Charities are funded in part through the generous support of many people and organizations in our community. Learn more about Catholic Charities and donate online at www.ccdoc.org.
2018 NFP Workshop Calendar
July 21st — St. Vincent de Paul, Charlotte, One Day Class, 1:30 to 5 pm
August 18th — St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Hickory, One Day Class, 1:30 pm to 5 pm
September 15th — St. Matthew Catholic Church, Charlotte, One Day Class, 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm
October 20th — St. Matthew Catholic Church, Charlotte, One Day Class, 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm