By Monica Choo
KUALA LUMPUR — The 19th Conference of the BGM of the Natural Fertility Awareness Service of Malaysia (NFASM) was conducted online via virtual platform Zoom, attended by 101 Billings Ovulation Method® (BOM) Teachers and 25 observers from West Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah.
NFASM is affiliated to WOOMB International (World Organisation of the Ovulation Method – Billings), teaching the Billings Ovulation Method® to educate pre-marriage couples and others in observing and charting to understand the woman’s ovulation cycle; to achieve pregnancy or to postpone conception. It is also helpful in monitoring reproductive health.
It is a powerful tool to ascertain fertility and infertility days. Abnormalities would be identified through the charts women record, thereby assisting couples to make responsible decisions to manage their fertility or infertility without artificial contraceptives through the use of medication, devices and operations which prevent the body from functioning normally and naturally. Couples become masters of their own fertility.
Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Julian Leow graced the occasion with a welcoming address that echoes the importance of the role of BOM teachers in instilling conviction and educating married couples in the practical use of the BOM thereby supporting them in realising the goal of responsible parenthood which ultimately fulfils and respects God’s design in natural pro-creation.
The conference started with a recollection given by Bro. Gerard Choo, SJ, who walked us through a series of meditation based upon this year’s BGM theme:
Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you went forth from the womb, I sanctified you.
And I made you prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)
It was a quiet time to reflect, ponder and be immersed in the light and love of the Holy Spirit, refreshing, motivating, inspiring and affirming us in our role being prophets to the nations as BOM Teachers (BOMT). It was truly timely as for the present moment when social distancing permits no face to face consultation and teaching which had for a time come to a standstill especially for communities lacking virtual connectivity.
During the conference we had a series of upskilling and training workshops. Attendance is a requirement for re-accreditation as BOMT every four years.
Dr Chan Lek Lim, NFASM Vice President & Associate Director WOOMB International, gave presentations on:
How to do Online Follow-ups
Simple Explanation of the Continuum
‘Signs at the Vulva’ which is a new PowerPoint Presentation produced by WOOMB International for worldwide use for initial instruction.
An international speaker was Professor Pilar Vigil from Chile, a renowned world expert in human fertility, a medical doctor in O&G with post doctoral studies in Reproductive Medicine and Endocrinology, and a medical director at the Reproductive Health Research Institute (RHRI) New York and Chile. She is also International President of TeenStar. She gave presentations on:
1. Billings Ovulation Method® and Menstrual Disorders – new findings & research of the menstrual cycle; how BOM helps to identify menstrual disorders; a tool to track a woman’s reproductive health.
2. TeenStar –
a) engages children and adolescents on sexuality and affectivity.
b) teaches holistic sexuality that includes the physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual aspect of the person.
Proven Achievements of the program –
- awareness of bodily signs
- delay and in the start of sexual activity
- greater assertiveness in decision making
- reduction in pregnancy rates among adolescents
- learn how to decide for themselves at what time they will be ready to surrender to another (marriage)
- 50 percent of sexually active youth stops having sexual relationship
- better communication with parents, their peers and their teachers
Another international speaker was Mrs Bernadette Davies, a physiotherapist who later did a Certificate in the ‘Biology of the Cervix’. She is the Director of WOOMB International as well as the Coordinator of the Teacher Training Correspondence. She gave a presentation on New Way of Training in Pandemic Times. Given that the Covid pandemic has brought the world to a halt and globally social distancing has since become the norm, WOOMB has packaged together a virtual Teacher Training Program for use internationally.
BOM is scientifically based. Discovered and developed by doctors John and Evelyn Billings with the help of endocrine chemist, Prof James Brown & cervical specialist, Prof Erik Odeblad and other collaborators through years of research with thousands of case studies, it has become a highly reliable method. In Malaysia, BOM is presented in five languages—English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Iban and Tamil. Some couples have become to BOM Teachers wanting to help promote and teach the method which has helped couples to use it to postpone pregnancy, achieve pregnancy including discovering and treating root causes of any disorders which may have caused infertility
By and large, BOM Teachers have come onboard to volunteer their time, making the effort to effect change in an environment which may be assailed persistently with pro-choice pressure in ways contradicting the preservation of life which is created in the image of God.
Dr Calvin Dinesh, NFASM President, in his opening speech firmly confirmed our vocation and obligation to defend life at the moment of conception and that we are partners with God who is the author and creator of all life.
During the meeting, the name of the organisation was changed to ‘Billings Ovulation Method® Service of Malaysia’ or BOMSM, for short. This is to be more specific to what the organisation is about—to PROMOTE AND teach the Billings Ovulation Method®.
 was conducted online via virtual platform Zoom.){kind=link}