An Audit of Natural Family Planning and Usage

The Cana Movement has been training couples in Natural Family Planning (NFP) methods for a number of years, in its efforts to support and to strengthen the Maltese family. J. Mizzi and colleagues conducted an audit to evaluate this education programme, including current use and perception of NFP methods. An anonymous postal survey was carried out among all those who took part in NFP courses between 1995 and 2004. Results are compared to data drawn from the Health Interview Survey (HIS) carried out by the Department of Health Information in 2002 on a representative sample of the Maltese population. The great majority of the NFP respondent population (62%) had been married for 5 to 10 years, and were mostly between 30 and 35 years. A large group of female respondents described themselves as housewives (49%). All women had achieved at least secondary education. The top two occupational groups among male respondents were professionals (20%) and skilled labourers (19%). 57% found NFP methods to be very reliable. This proportion peaks to 75% among 40-45 year old women. HIS figures show the three most popular family planning methods among 16 to 25 year olds and 26 to 35 year olds are NFP, condoms and withdrawal, with the latter method being the most popular in the older age group and condoms being preferred by the younger group. J. Mizzi et al Malta Medical Journal 15 Issue 1-2/suppl. (2003)