At least 55 per cent of couples married for 10 to 15 years said they used the Natural Family Planning (NFP) method extensively according to a survey carried out by the Cana Movement.
Pauline Tufigno, a teacher at the Cana Movement, explained that the survey was sent to 650 couples who had attended a course of Natural Family Planning between 1995 and 2004. The total number of respondents amounted to 280 couples and around 100 questionnaires were not sent to the correct address.
The large majority of the respondents (92 per cent) said they had children and of these, 88 per cent of the pregnancies were planned and 12 per cent were unplanned.
Neville Calleja from the Cana Movement said it resulted that the older the couple were, the more extensively they used NFP. Dr Calleja compared the results of the NFP survey to another survey carried out by the Department of Health Information in 2002 on a representative sample of the Maltese population.
The Health Information Survey (HIS) included questions on use of contraceptives and family planning methods and Dr Calleja pointed out that almost 20 per cent of the female respondents aged between 16 to 25 said they used the NFP.
Use of NFP increased with age, with almost 30 per cent of both male and female respondents aged between 56 and 65 saying they used NFP.
According to the HIS, the three most popular methods in women in the two age groups of 16 to 25 and 26 to 35 years were the condom, NFP and withdrawal. Mrs Tufigno said almost all of the respondents (97 per cent) said that they found the course very interesting. Only 12 per cent said that they would not recommend the NFP course to others. According to the results, the number of couples who said they used the NFP method extensively had been married for 10 to 15 years and had a post-secondary level of education.
Just under half, 49 per cent, of the female respondents said they were housewives and 78 per cent of all respondents said they attended mass once a week. Mrs Tufigno said the method was also used to plan pregnancies, although couples who had been married for up to five years used the method to avoid pregnancy.
The Cana Movement has been teaching NFP to engaged and married couples since the Movement was set up in 1956.
The NFP Unit trains an average of 300 engaged couples every year, and the method is also taught to the average 1,500 couples who attend the Cana course each year.
Cana Movement director Joe Mizzi said that Natural Family Planning enhances the level of intimacy and communication among the couple as the method is based on dialogue.
Mrs Tufigno said that certain couples found it difficult to follow the daily observation and charting of multi-signals, of the woman, to ensure the efficacy of the method.
The NFP makes use of the Basal Body Temperature, the Billings Ovulation Method, Cervical Palpation method and other minor signals, explained Mrs Tufigno. There are no known side effects on the woman’s health or that of the unborn child.
Most couples want peace of mind, Mrs Tufigno said.
“When there is an unplanned pregnancy, it does not mean that the NFP failed as a method, but that it was not taught or implemented correctly,” she added.