Only 51,000 married women use natural family planning
by UP Population Institute
Quezon City (21 August) -- Only half of all currently married Filipino women in the reproductive ages of 15-49 use family planning methods. Among all married women, less than one percent (0.4%) use natural family planning.
These are just some of the findings of the 2005 Family Planning Survey (FPS) conducted by the National Statistics Office. Out of the estimated 12.86 million currently married women aged 15-49 in 2005, about one-fourth or 3.4 million use supply methods such as condoms, pills, injectables, and IUD (Figure 1).
Thirteen percent or 1.7 million married women use traditional methods such as calendar/rhythm/periodic abstinence and withdrawal. About one-tenth or 1.2 million of all married women use permanent methods such as sterilization and tubal ligation. Lastly, only 51,000 married women use natural family planning methods such as Mucus/Billings/Ovulation, Standards Days Method, and Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM).
Of the 6.5 million married women who are not using any family planning methods, 2.6 million women want to avoid or postpone pregnancy but do not use contraceptives (Figure 1). This condition is referred to as "unmet need for family planning."
From 1996-2006, the proportion of women who opted for permanent methods remained the same as about 10 percent (Figure 2). An increasing proportion of married women use supply methods, while those who use traditional methods have increased slightly. Users of natural family planning methods are a small minority and their numbers have in fact steadily decreased from an all-time high of 1 percent in 1996 to just 0.3 percent in 2006. (UPPI) [top]
