TIME REQUIRED FOR A HEALTHY COUPLE TO ACHIEVE CONCEPTION, CONTRACEPTIVE BEHAVIOR, AND RATE OF PRECEDING INFERTILITY THERAPY

In order to gain current information, on how long a healthy couple desiring a child has to wait until conception, on previous contraceptive behaviour and prior infertility treatment, 750 women were interviewed within 7 days after delivery between January and November, 1989, using a standardised questionnaire. This sample represents one third of all patients, who delivered a child in an Oldenburg hospital during the time period covered. 544 women had desired a pregnancy, an additional 206 women had not directly planned a pregnancy, and 73 of these had taken no precautions against conception, since they were willing to accept a pregnancy if it should occur. 133 women called their pregnancy an "accident", which in 87 couples occurred despite some kind of contraceptive procedure. The absolute number of contraceptive failures was highest for timed intercourse (n = 38) and users of oral contraceptives (n = 32). Couples without a history of infertility treatment had to wait for an average period of 3.4 months before a conception occurred (95 % confidence limits:3.1-3.8 months). The mean age of the women in this group was 28.1 +/- 0.2 years, whereas on an average their male partners were 30.9 +/- 0.2 years of age. The likelihood to achieve pregnancy within the first 4 months of trying varied between 13 and 15% per month. After 6 months of waiting, the pregnancy rate per cycle was reduced to 6%, whereas, after one year, the likelihood for conception was only 1%. Half of all couples desiring a pregnancy achieved this within 4 months. After one year of unprotected intercourse, 87% of planned pregnancies had occurred. Amongst all patients interviewed, 9.9% (74 couples) had seen a physician because of infertility problems. In only 48% of these cases, the male and female partner were investigated simultaneously. The data presented suggest that, after 6 months of unprotected intercourse, diagnostic infertility procedures should begin in couples desiring a pregnancy.