T-R PHOTO BY SARA JORDAN-HEINTZ “Going Natural: A Healthy Choice” will be presented from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 30 inside DeJardin Hall at Marshalltown Community College. The purpose of this class is to “present a scientific analysis of the chemistry of sex, fertility and relationships.”

“Going Natural: A Healthy Choice” will be presented from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 30 inside DeJardin Hall at Marshalltown Community College. The purpose of this class is to “present a scientific analysis of the chemistry of sex, fertility and relationships.”

Sponsored by the Coalition for Life of Iowa, it is being coordinated by Linda Jacobs, a local woman who is a registered nurse and fertility care practitioner. She is the Marshalltown affiliate for Fiat FertilityCare Center, a clinic based in Waterloo, and an adjunct medical terminology teacher at MCC.

The class is aimed at engaged and married couples, counselors, teachers, students, clergy, medical providers, social workers and those with a general interest in the topic.

Speakers include Vicki Thorn, who will discuss fertility and hormones, Jamie Rathjen, a Creighton Model FertilityCare practitioner; Monica Minjeur, a family medicine physician; Father Ray Atwood and Dr. Robert Pranger, a doctor of family medicine and obstetrics.

Natural family planning techniques will be discussed.

Jacobs, who is trained in the Creighton Model, said she works with women to teach them how to chart their menstrual cycle and monitor fertility. She can help treat reproductive issues such as endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome, prescribing natural hormones.

“Couples who use fertility awareness have a low divorce rate and open communication,” Jacobs said.

The Creighton Model (CrM) is a natural or fertility awareness based method of family planning based on a woman’s observations of her cervical fluid or mucus.

The class is intended to provide information that will maximize success in using and understanding of the method.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most effective types of birth control (less than 1 pregnancy per 100 women in a year) are: IUDs, implants, tubal occlusion and vasectomy; followed by birth control pills, rings, patches and injectables (4-7 pregnancies per 100 women in one year); with the least effective methods (more than 13 pregnancies per 100 women in a year) are condoms, withdrawal (pull out method), spermicides, sponges and fertility awareness-based methods.

Registration is required by March 25.

To register, contact Jacobs at 641-485-4510 or coalitionforlife@gmail.com.

The event’s other co-sponsors include the Dubuque County Right to Life, Johnson County Right to Life and the Culture of Life Committee.

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Contact Sara Jordan-Heintz at 641-753-6611 or sjordan@timesrepublican.com