A randomized multicentre study of Copper-T-200 (CuT), Multiload-250 (ML) and Nova-T (NoT) was conducted to evaluate the clinical performance of these three IUDs in the hands of general practitioners with varying experience in the different insertion techniques. After 36 months of use a total of 19,821 treatment cycles was accumulated. The continuation rate was 69.7% for CuT, 60.9% for ML and 61.8% for NoT. The cumulative expulsion rate after 36 months was 5.0% and equally distributed among centres and types of IUD. Removal for medical reasons was 11.4% and also equally distributed among the centres and the types of IUD. The pregnancy rate was insignificantly higher for the NoT compared with the two other types.