Demographic study on the family planning behaviour of the German population: the importance of natural methods

A total of 1,267 women in the F.R.G., aged from 15 to 45 years, were interviewed about their family planning behavior and the importance of natural methods of family planning (NFP) in a representative demographic study. It was found that 19.6% of the respondents were not sexually active. The others used various methods, as follows: pill, 38.4%; IUD, 10.3%; condom, 5.9%; diaphragm, 2.1%; spermicides, 0.8%; withdrawal, 3.4%; NFP methods, 3.9%. The main reason for rejecting a method was a possible medical risk. Of the responding women, 73% had some previous knowledge about NFP; 47% of them found such methods to be interesting, and approximately 20% indicated a high probability of the use of NFP methods in the future.