France, M., France, J., & Townend, K. (1997). Natural family planning in New Zealand: a study of continuation rates and characteristics of users. Advances in contraception : the official journal of the Society for the Advancement of Contraception, 13(2-3), 191-198. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1006504005289
France M, France J, Townend K. Natural family planning in New Zealand: a study of continuation rates and characteristics of users. Adv Contracept. 1997;13(2-3):191-198. doi:10.1023/a:1006504005289
France, M., et al. "Natural family planning in New Zealand: a study of continuation rates and characteristics of users." Advances in contraception : the official journal of the Society for the Advancement of Contraception, vol. 13, no. 2-3, 1997, pp. 191-198.
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Abstract
This study has determined long-term continuation rates of clients who attended clinics of the New Zealand Association of Natural Family Planning and became autonomous users. It has also identified factors which might influence the continuation of NFP use. A total of 509 female subjects, 452 of them with their male partners, were enrolled in the study at the beginning of clinic teaching. Once autonomous they were sent questionnaires at 6-monthly intervals for a period of 24 months. Time out was allowed for pregnancy. The number of female subjects entering the 2-year follow-up phase of the study was 406 (79.8%). Of these 164 completed 2 years of use with 102 (20% of study entrants) using NFP and 62 (12.2%) using fertility awareness in combination with a barrier method. Subjects for whom NFP was their first family planning method, who were Catholic or who gave religion as their reason for choosing NFP were more likely to continue long-term use. The majority of subjects (> 90%) were highly satisfied with NFP use, with the most common reasons for satisfaction being self-awareness, freedom from drugs, naturalness and effectiveness. The difficulties reported related to abstinence and cycle interpretation.
Eighty women attending for consultation at a tertiary referral fertility unit over a 3-month period were surveyed for their knowledge of fertility awareness and how they used this information to enhance their chances of conception. It was hypothesized that less than 50% of the subjects had an adequate understanding of when the fertile time occurred in their menstrual cycle. A questionnaire was completed anonymously by each subject and these were scored in 3 categories for fertility awareness by 2 independent Natural Family Planning teachers. Scores ranged from 0 for women who had no concept of fertility awareness, to 6 for women who were highly aware. The results showed that 26% (N = 21) of subjects had a score of 4 or greater which was considered as having an adequate understanding. The hypothesis was accepted, giving reason for concern about the effectiveness of consumer education at all levels of fertility investigation.
In response to the lack of analyses of natural family planning (NFP) users in the UK a questionnaire was randomly distributed to teachers and users of this method in England and Wales in 1984-85. 464 of the 1000 questionnaires distributed were returned; the majority of respondents were married couples in the 25-34-year age group. Data on the demographic characteristics of these respondents countered the widely held belief that NFP users are predominantly Roman Catholics with large families. Only 59% of female respondents and 35% of male respondents were Catholic; moreover 65% had 2 pregnancies or fewer with an average number of 2.1. Specific NFP methods selected by study respondents were: symptothermal (67%) Billings ovulation method (21%) calendar temperature (8%) and rhythm (3%). 52% reported previous oral contraceptive (OC) use. 260 respondents were using NFP only while 204 were combining NFP with the use of another method predominantly condoms. The primary sources of information about NFP were: friends (37%) the church (27%) and magazines/newspapers (17%); 74% were taught NFP by a trained instructor. The mean frequency of sexual intercourse per menstrual period--6.9 among exclusive NFP users and 7.9 among those who combined NFP with artificial methods--did not differ from that in the general population. 31% of female respondents and 20% of male respondents reported no problems with the requirement for abstinence during the fertile period; 78% said they had experienced no psychosexual problems as a result of NFP use. There were 179 unplanned pregnancies reported only 25 of which were method-related. An additional 34 pregnancies were regarded as resulting from inadequate training especially about NFP use post-OC postpartum and premenopausal.
For 10 years, a prospective study has been taking place in Germany to examine the use of natural family planning (NFP). As natural methods are behavioral methods, use-effectiveness, acceptability and continuation rates are very much influenced by patterns of sexual behavior. Therefore we performed an analysis of the sexual behavior of NFP users. Out of the data base of 1211 clients and 12,591 cycles we could identify a group of 300 women, all NFP beginners, with 5900 contraceptive cycles, who contributed at least 12 cycles with reliable recording of their sexual activity. Different groups were analyzed with methods of analysis of variance and regression models to find out significant differences in their sexual behavior with respect to sociodemographic structure and time of use. Nearly half of all the women systematically combine the fertility awareness part of NFP with other family planning methods. They use barriers in more than 60% of their cycles. The other half never or only in about 7% of their cycles use additional barrier methods. The latter show a clear decrease in barrier use in the course of time, whereas the frequent barrier users constantly combine the advantages of two family planning methods. Regarding the frequency of intercourse they are the sexually more active ones and show distinct sociodemographic characteristics. We could confirm the existence of three groups of NFP users, which differ significantly in their use of NFP as a family planning method. Despite these differences the low pregnancy rates indicate the conscious and risk-related sexual behavior of the group members.
Fehring RJ et al., 2011·J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs·Free to read
To evaluate the efficacy, knowledge of fertility, and acceptability of a web-based natural family planning (NFP) education and service program.
A 6-month repeated measure longitudinal evaluation pilot study.
A university based online website. The website was piloted with 468 volunteer women seeking NFP services. Of these participants, 222 used the automatic online fertility charting system to avoid pregnancy. The 222 charting participants had a mean age of 29.9 years (SD=5.6), 2.2 children (SD=1.9), 37% were postpartum, and 47% had regular menstrual cycle lengths. Nurse-managed web-based NFP education and service program. Outcomes: Pregnancies were confirmed by an online self-assessed pregnancy evaluation form. A 10-item fertility quiz and 10-item acceptability survey was administered online. Among the 222 users avoiding pregnancy, at 6 months of use, there were two correct-use unintended pregnancies that provided a pregnancy rate of 2% and seven total unintended pregnancies providing a typical use pregnancy rate of 7%. Mean knowledge of fertility increased significantly from time of registration (8.96, SD=1.10) to 1 month of use (9.46, SD=.10), t=4.60, p<.001). Acceptability increased nonsignificantly from 1 month of use (45.6; SD=8.98) to 6 months of use (48.4; SD=8.77). The nurse-managed online NFP system seems to provide adequate knowledge of fertility and help participants meet pregnancy intentions. Acceptability of such a system of NFP is still in question.
Uchimura NS et al., 2011·Rev Gaucha Enferm·Free to read
This is an observational quantitative and analytical study aimed at verifying the knowledge, acceptability and use of natural family planning (NFP) by patients in a university hospital from July to November, 2008. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed with the softwares Excel and Statistica 8.0. Of the 113s women interviewed, 70 (62%) accepted the method and 1 (0.9%) used it routinely. Acceptance was higher among those who wished to become pregnant in the future compared to those who did not wish it. Acceptability was statistically significant (p = 0.0147) among the 28 (80%) non-contraceptive users compared to 42 (53.8%) who used some contraceptive method. Factors such as age, education, number of living children and religion were not statiscally associated with the acceptability of NFP. The Billings ovulation method has an adequate acceptability, but has a low actual use because of the lack of information by health professionals of its real effectiveness and applicability.
Fertility Awareness › Use and Experience › User Satisfaction
PMID 9288337 9288337 DOI 10.1023/a:1006504005289 10.1023/a:1006504005289 France et al. 1997, France 1997
Cite this article
France, M., France, J., & Townend, K. (1997). Natural family planning in New Zealand: a study of continuation rates and characteristics of users. Advances in contraception : the official journal of the Society for the Advancement of Contraception, 13(2-3), 191-198. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1006504005289
France M, France J, Townend K. Natural family planning in New Zealand: a study of continuation rates and characteristics of users. Adv Contracept. 1997;13(2-3):191-198. doi:10.1023/a:1006504005289
France, M., et al. "Natural family planning in New Zealand: a study of continuation rates and characteristics of users." Advances in contraception : the official journal of the Society for the Advancement of Contraception, vol. 13, no. 2-3, 1997, pp. 191-198.
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