Here in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, we are so very blessed to have a great many generous and talented women and men who serve as NFP instructors, providers, and physicians. These men and women are not only highly trained in their field but also have a passion for the work that they undertake each and every day. They do the work that they do because they know that they are called by God and have been put on earth with a mission of good news!
We are excited to highlight just some of these women and men who are in the trenches serving you each and every day. Today we are spotlighting Kathleen Graveman, RN BSN CFCP who has been laboring in the field of Natural Family Planning for almost a decade. Kathy loves cooking for her family and friends and has tried most of the Mexican restaurants in the St. Louis area. She works for Mercy FertilityCare™ Services and can be reached via e-mail and by phone at (314) 991-0327.
Without further ado, grab a cold lemonade and settle in to learn more about Kathy!
Hello Kathy, thank you for joining us! Could you please tell us a little about yourself? Your family? Hobbies?
I am single and have three adult children, a Labrador dog, and a beautiful Bull Terrier dog! I enjoy working in the yard, being with my family, and playing tennis.
Are you originally from St. Louis?
Yes, I am from St. Charles, and I grew up there with my 6 siblings.
At what parish are you currently a parishioner? What is your favorite thing about that parish?
I am a currently a parishioner at Immaculate Conception, Dardenne. My favorite thing about Immaculate Conception is the friendliness of the priests, the parishioners, and the 5 pm Saturday Mass! It is a wonderful place!
Where did you go to school or where were you trained?
I went to Duchesne High School (that question), then onto St. Louis University School of Nursing. In 2013-2014, I took the 13-month training to become a FertilityCare™ Practitioner.
How did you first learn about Natural Family Planning (NFP)?
My story about how I began to learn about Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an odd one. I knew nothing about NFP when I was preparing for marriage, or during my childbearing years. I first truly became aware of NFP when I read an article about the CREIGHTON MODEL FertilityCare™ System in the St. Louis Review. The article spoke about a class to train practitioners that was beginning soon. I read to the end of the article, and saw that I knew one of the founders, Ann Prebil. I called Ann and left her a message. She called me back a few weeks later and told me, “Just sign up for the class. You will like it” I replied, “But I don’t know anything about it, and never used the system.” She repeated, “Oh, just sign up. You really will like it!” So, I did, and as they say, the rest is history!
What made you want to pursue a career as an instructor in NFP?
To put it simply, I fell in love with the system. I like that it is based in research and science, and it is very woman forward. In addition, I like how our clients are involved in learning about how their body works and that they gain a deeper understanding of their own fertility. If, as a woman is charting her cycles, she uncovers an issue which needs to be discussed with her physician, I can help give her the information that she needs to have an informed conversation with her provider. Every client is new, and their situation is new. I was offered a job after my training was over, and I took it!
How many years have you been involved in NFP and where do you teach?
I work for Mercy FertilityCare™ Services and have been teaching for almost 8 years! I feel blessed to work with the people I do. I think everyone in the department enjoys this ministry.
What aspect of NFP most speaks to your heart? (for example, is it your passion to help couples wanting to achieve pregnancy)
I am most passionate about working with couples struggling with infertility. I listen carefully to their story, as I think many couples who are infertile feel that their journey is not heard by most people in the healthcare industry. And many women feel that “something is wrong with them” because they are unable to get pregnant “on their own,” without assistance. I try to be a compassionate listener, and hope they see in me someone who cares about them, and their life story.
Part of the CREIGHTON MODEL teaching we do is something called S.P.I.C.E., an acronym for Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Creative, and Emotional. These are the multidimensional ways that a couple communicates with each other outside of the marital act, and this is something I try to go over with my couples. I want them to expand the S.P.I.C.E. in their relationship while they are trying to conceive, reinforcing that they need to grow in all ways as a couple, to strengthen their marriage. It is easy for the couple to focus only on infertility, but the entire marriage is under stress, and that should be addressed by the couple.
Do you have specific professional areas of specialty?
I have been a part of a team that has looked at every aspect of our procedure to sign up women and couples for an Introductory Session (the first step in our program). We have looked at the website used for signups, at every email they receive, and discussed ways to improve a couple’s engagement in our program. We gave everything an overhaul. As an example, we show an Archdiocesan video about our service before the Introductory Session. In the video, several couples describe their reasons for using NFP, and how they feel it has impacted their marriage. We also send the potential couples a few emails after the Introductory Session, reminding them of our on-going services and giving them the links to that video and others, hoping to “plant the seeds that someday will grow.”
I am also the Outreach Coordinator for our department. Part of my job is contacting physicians, coworkers, priests, and church groups, and talking about our services. My goal is to develop a “culture of NFP” in many parishes, where the different methods of NFP are available, and where NFP is seen as the preferred method used by couples to plan their families. I also wish for the more mature members of the parish to know that NFP really works, that it is readily available, and to talk to their children, grandchildren, about NFP. We have a handout that is titled “I Wish I Had Known This Before,” as we hear this so many times from our clients. My desire is for NFP to be ubiquitous in parishes.
Please tell us about your practice. Where are you located? Are you accepting new patients?
I teach at Mercy FertilityCare™ Services where we teach the CREIGHTON MODEL FertilityCare™ Services at our office. Our office is located at: 11700 Studt Ave., Suite C, St. Louis MO 63141. We are about 1 mile north of Mercy Hospital, St. Louis, off Ballas Road.
I work with about 10 other practitioners. We see many clients virtually, so it is no problem if you do not live in our area or do not want to drive to our office.
YES, WE LOVE NEW PATIENTS! We also accept insurance, which is a plus. First a potential client attends our Introductory Session and decides if they are interested in signing up for follow-ups with one of the practitioners. If they are, then they receive a year of our services, or at least 8 follow-ups in that year. When you sign up with us, you are assigned one practitioner, as we then develop a one-on-one relationship with our clients. All the practitioners who work at our office are Registered Nurses. We have offices at Mercy South and Mercy Washington.
Please tell us a little about the physicians you work with.
I am so glad you asked about physicians! We often work with physicians trained in NaProTECHNOLOGY, a health science that networks the charting that we teach our clients with medical care, so that physicians can provide treatment for problems or to maintain a woman’s reproductive health. As a woman charts her cycles, sometimes problems are uncovered. When that woman works with us and the NaProTECHNOLOGY physician, those issues can many times be addressed in a cooperative way that corrects the issue and preserves a woman’s reproductive potential. I should also mention that we have many clients who do not see NaProTECHNOLOGY Physicians, and that is fine with us. We do not work exclusively with NaProTECHNOLOGY physicians. We can, with the help of our physicians, help women to address issues such as: Infertility, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Difficult PMS, Endometriosis, Ovarian cysts, Repetitive miscarriage, Abnormal bleeding, Post-partum depression, and much more!
We are blessed in the St. Louis area to have so many physicians trained in NaProTECHNOLOGY. We have many OB/GYNs, and a few who specialize in the surgical treatment of infertility issues, as well as Family Medicine Physicians. All these physicians’ approach women as a whole person and cooperate with them to achieve their reproductive goals. Their approach is acceptable to women of many faiths.
What are your hopes for your patients? Your practice? Your career?
My hope for my clients is that I can help them to achieve their reproductive goals. I hope to work here at Mercy, in collaboration with the Archdiocese of St. Louis and the Office of Natural Family Planning, for a long time! I have just received my Certification as a FertilityCare™ Practitioner, and I hope to further my education by attending a program to become a Certified FertilityCare™ Educator, and eventually teach more practitioners like myself.
Do you have any stories from your work that illustrate how God is working in your ministry?
All of us at the office have wonderful stories to tell about our clients. A few weeks ago, I was speaking on behalf of the Annual Catholic Appeal at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, New Melle. After Mass, I was in the narthex greeting people and answering questions. A few men approached me, inquiring about someone they know who is struggling with infertility. I gave them my business card and asked to have the woman they know contact me at the office, where I can talk to them about our services. While I was at work the next Tuesday, the phone rang, and it was a woman wishing to know more about us, who had been given my card by someone at IHM! I can see God’s hand at work in our office, in ways like this. I will see this woman soon and will see how I can help her. God is Good!
God, through my friend Ann, led me to this job, I am certain of it. This is what He wants me to do. I try to meet my client’s needs and I hope that they see a little bit of Him in their interaction with me.
Thank you so much to Kathy for taking the time give us this interview. We truly enjoyed learning more about you!
Please stay tuned to the blog and our other social media to hear more about some of our other great NFP instructors, providers, and physicians in the weeks and months to come!