Natural family planning - Results 

The effectiveness of birth control methods are measured in two ways, perfect use and typical use.

A perfect use measurement is based on how effective the birth control method would be if the instructions for use were followed exactly as recommended.

However in the real world people can make mistakes, forget instructions and other problems can occur. So a typical use measurement is based on what you’d expect to see in a more realistic setting.

The perfect use percentage of natural family planning is very good at 99%; out of a 100 women using that method only one would become pregnant.

But the typical use percentage – possibly due to the complexities involved – is less effective at 75%; out of a 100 women using that method 25 would become pregnant.

The perfect and typical use percentages of other types of birth control are listed below:

• contraceptive pill (both the combined pill and the progestogen-only pill) – perfect use is 99.7% and typical use is 91%
• contraceptive injection – perfect use is 99.7% and typical use is 97%
• contraceptive implant – both the perfect and typical use are the same at 99.5%
• contraceptive patch or ring – perfect use is 99.7% and typical use is 91%
• intrauterine device (IUD)or IUS) (‘the coil’) – perfect use is 99.4% and typical use is 99.2%
• male condom – perfect use is 98% and typical use is 85%
• female condom – perfect use is 95% and typical use is 79%

If you do decide to use natural family planning you can reduce your risk of accidental pregnancy by making sure you are taught natural family planning by a suitably qualified teacher and then ensuring you follow their instructions and advice.