St. Croix Birth & Parenting

Certified Natural Family Planning instructors affiliated with St. Croix Birth & Parenting believe:

• Children are the natural fruit of marriage.  Any device, procedure or practice that frustrates the natural life-giving potential of the marital embrace or destroys its fruit is unethical.

• Natural family planning methods may be utilized by couples wishing to postpone pregnancy for just reasons, because such methods preserve the life-giving potential of the marital embrace and its fruit.

• Natural conception is best for couples and their babies.  All aids to conception which assist the couple to achieve natural conception within the context of the marital embrace are licit.  Any practice or procedure that attempts to create a new human life outside of the context of the marital embrace is unethical.

• Many couples who struggle with infertility or repeat miscarriages can achieve healthy pregnancies if they practice fertility awareness, along with changes in lifestyle such as: a healthier diet, moderate exercise, stress reduction, and natural hormone balancing.  Referrals to NFP-only physicians will be made, whenever appropriate.

To view our current class schedule, click on the Fertility Education link.

Certified midwives, certified childbirth educators and certified doulas affiliated with St. Croix Birth & Parenting believe:

• Midwifery care protects mothers and babies from unnecessary harm and fosters normal, healthy pregnancies and births.  Therefore, midwifery care is to be encouraged, whenever possible.

• The best place of birth is wherever a mother feels safe and loved.

• All birthing mothers are entitled to skilled, compassionate care and should be surrounded by the people whom they have chosen.  Freedom of movement, eating and drinking as desired, and choosing their own birthing positions are basic needs of laboring mothers.

• Comfort measures, loving support, relaxation techniques, and baths, pools and showers greatly aid mothers during labor.  Most mothers can give birth without pain medications or interventions if such methods are used, if given adequate time, privacy, and empathetic care from those around them.

To view our current class schedule, click on the Childbirth Education link.

Our Breastfeeding and Parent Educator Affiliates believe:

• Mother’s milk is the best food for virtually every baby.

• Most mothers can breastfeed successfully if they are able to rest, recover from childbirth, eat healthy meals, drink to thirst, and bond with their babies, especially during the first month after birth.

• Parents are the primary educators of their children.  Education starts at birth.

To view our current class schedule, click on the Breastfeeding, Parenting, and Family links.