Factors affecting use of natural family planning in Utah

This descriptive study was conducted to discover what factors affected use of natural family planning (NFP) in Utah. A survey was mailed to 189 persons in Utah who had received instruction in NFP. Sixty-seven females completed and returned the survey as did 40 of their spouses. This group indicated that they received family planning information from a variety of sources, and that many of those sources provided inaccurate information about NFP. The majority of this group wished they had been informed about NFP sooner. In general this group found that when they discussed NFP with physicians, they received a negative response. Yet, this response did not affect their decision to use or not use the NFP method. Factors that were most frequently cited as facilitating use of NFP were: (a) contact with other NFP users and (b) a belief that NFP is the only right way to regulate family size.