Dr. Craig Cunningham, left, holds his daughter Agnes while presenting a St. Gianna Molla FertilityCare Practitioner grant to Isabel Pugh of Winterset, Iowa alongside his wife, Lauren. Also pictured is Pugh’s husband, Ayden.
By Barb Arland-Fye and Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger
IOWA CITY — Dr. Craig Cunningham guides women longing to give birth through the fertility challenges that have prevented them from welcoming a new child into the world. He shared stories from that journey during his March 29 presentation for the 11th Annual Culture of Life Dinner at St. Wenceslaus Parish.
His role as a Natural Family Planning Medical Consultant (NFPMC) is an extension of his love for family medicine, which he practices at Avera Medical Group in Spirit Lake, Iowa and where he treats patients from babies to senior citizens.
In 2018, during his medical residency, he received a grant from the St. Wenceslaus Knights of Columbus for training to become a medical consultant specializing in NaPro Technology through Saint Paul VI Institute in Omaha. The Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System utilizes NaPro technology to identify and treat hormonal and gynecological problems without use of birth control pills. Its symptom-based fertility tracking method aims to help couples avoid or achieve pregnancy.
Dr. Cunningham describes his work with women striving to resolve fertility challenges “as a journey (on which) you are walking alongside them. It certainly is a privileged position,” he told The Catholic Messenger in an interview after the Culture of Life Dinner.
“You’re there with them sometimes in the depth of their despair and you’re there when they’re celebrating the highs of the births of their babies. It’s pretty special for me to be able to do that, and to use my skills to help them with their families.”
“I view each miscarriage and each pregnancy as a human life. I tell patients, ‘This was a life and you are going to grieve. Women appreciate that perspective,’” Dr. Cunningham said. “It’s helpful for me to have my faith for that.”
Life-affirming care
During his talk, titled, “A Day in the Life of a NaPro Doctor,” Dr. Cunningham highlighted his experiences treating women with various gynecological problems related to fertility issues, pregnancy or who needed support in pregnancy. Without disclosing their identities, he shared the stories of two women he is treating who have been on “long fertility journeys and are now pregnant.”
One of the patients, who had suffered several miscarriages previously, is now around 30 weeks into her pregnancy. A second patient, who also had suffered several miscarriages, is now around 24 weeks into her pregnancy. St. Paul VI Institute says the ability of NaPro-trained physicians to read a woman’s Creighton Model charting is a key to “unraveling the mysteries of the menstrual and fertility cycle.”
Dr. Cunningham also shared with the dinner guests his experience treating two women who on separate visits told him they were considering abortion. “I don’t know whether they were randomly assigned to me or it was divine providence,” he said. “I just asked each one questions (such as), ‘Why do you want to do that?’ ‘What’s going on in your life?’ Of course, it’s never just about the pregnancy. Both women were going through very difficult times. They didn’t know how a baby would fit in,” he said.
Dr. Craig Cunningham speaks at the Culture of Life Dinner March 29 at St. Wenceslaus Parish in Iowa City.
Paying it forward
The fundraising dinner at which Dr. Cunningham spoke drew about 80 people and generated $8,760 for the St. Wenceslaus Knights of Columbus’ FertilityCare and Cycle Show grant program, said parishioner David Fetzer. The Knights and the parish’s Culture of Life Team sponsor the dinner.
In the last 11 years, the St. Wenceslaus team has presented grants to seven doctors, 23 practitioners, two educators and five ambassadors of the Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System. Cycle Show grants help parishes to host an educational, interactive, multimedia fertility awareness workshop for preteen girls.
Dr. Cunningham and his wife Lauren are benefactors of the Knights’ new St. Gianna Molla Grant, which provides up to $4,000 in tuition assistance for an individual seeking to become a Creighton Model FertilityCare practitioner. The couple is paying forward the grant that Dr. Cunningham received in 2018. Isabel Pugh of Winterset, Iowa is the grant’s first recipient.
During a Q&A at the dinner, questions focused on how to spread the word about the Creighton Model and NaPro doctors and how to encourage more doctors to adopt these practices. Dr. Cunningham encouraged having conversations with fellow parishioners and spreading the word through events such as the Culture of Life Dinner.
Get involved
David Fetzer and JoEllen Ritchie are organizing a new Fertility Care Ambassador team. Call Fetzer at 319-400-5695 or Ritchie at 319-400-5695 for more information.
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