Fertility awareness in women attending a fertility clinic.

Eighty women attending for consultation at a tertiary referral fertility unit over a 3-month period were surveyed for their knowledge of fertility awareness and how they used this information to enhance their chances of conception. It was hypothesized that less than 50% of the subjects had an adequate understanding of when the fertile time occurred in their menstrual cycle. A questionnaire was completed anonymously by each subject and these were scored in 3 categories for fertility awareness by 2 independent Natural Family Planning teachers. Scores ranged from 0 for women who had no concept of fertility awareness, to 6 for women who were highly aware. The results showed that 26% (N = 21) of subjects had a score of 4 or greater which was considered as having an adequate understanding. The hypothesis was accepted, giving reason for concern about the effectiveness of consumer education at all levels of fertility investigation.