Abstract
Birth control is a persistent global health concern. Natural family planning (NFP) comprises methods to achieve or avoid pregnancy independent of mechanical or pharmacological intervention. The sympto-thermal method (STM) of NFP employs daily observation of cervical fluids and measurement of basal body temperature. This multi-country study was undertaken to describe the characteristics of STM users, understand their perceptions of NFP, and its perceived impact on relationships. Questionnaires for women and men were developed in German and translated to English, Polish, Italian, Czech, and Slovak by native speakers. A total of 2,560 respondents completed the online questionnaire (37.4% response). Participants were married (89%) and well educated, and their self-perceived financial status was described as "good" or "very good" by 65% of the respondents. Forty-seven percent had previously used contraceptives. Ninety-five percent of women and 55% of men said using NFP has helped them to know their body better. Large majorities of men (74%) and women (64%) felt NFP helped to improve their relationship while <10% felt use of NFP had harmed their relationship. Most women (53%) and men (63%) felt using NFP improved their sex life while 32% of women and 24% of men felt it was unchanged from before they used NFP. Seventy-five percent of women and 73% of men said they are either "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their frequency of sexual intercourse. This survey demonstrates STM of NFP is a well-accepted approach to family planning across several Western cultures. It is consistently viewed as being beneficial to couples' self-knowledge, their relationship, and satisfaction with frequency of sexual intercourse.
Highlights
Fertility awareness-based methods (FABM) of family planning use biologic markers to identify fertile and infertile days of a woman’s reproductive cycle
Two-thirds of men and three-quarters of women felt that the use of Natural family planning (NFP) improved their relationship while fewer than 10% felt it had not
A large majority of couples feel using NFP has helped them speak about their sexuality with their partner, improved their sex life, and improved the knowledge and understanding of their sexuality
Summary
Fertility awareness-based methods (FABM) of family planning use biologic markers to identify fertile and infertile days of a woman’s reproductive cycle. Sexual intercourse is avoided or contraception is used on fertile days to prevent pregnancy. Natural family planning (NFP) is a type of FABM that employs abstinence during the fertile window if being used to postpone pregnancy (1). Natural family planning offers couples the opportunity to approach fertility as a normal biological process and, by synchronizing their sexual behavior with the normal periodicity of fertility, can plan their families while respecting possible cultural and/or religious beliefs they may have. Previous surveys of users of NFP indicate the daily habit and periodic abstinence in general is not burdensome, and many claim it has benefits to their overall relationship (6–8). Participants in these studies used cervical mucus or temperature only methods of NFP
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