Fertility app’s unexpected spinoff – it could help contraception
16 Apr 2016
Most people use fertility apps to figure out when the best time is to conceive a baby, but it turns out there may be a completely different use for it - contraception.
In a new study, the Natural Cycles, fertility monitor has unexpectedly proven to be as effective as the contraceptive pill at preventing unwanted pregnancies.
The monitor predicts and identifies a woman's fertile window by tracking her period and predicting her ovulation day.
A new study analysing how effective the app was at preventing pregnancies among 4,000 Swedish women aged 20-35 found the app to be almost as effective as the pill.
Despite the findings, sexual health experts said we need to be ''cautious'' of the method, particularly as - if not followed correctly - it could end in a high number of unwanted pregnancies.
Researchers said that among those who use the app correctly, five women out of every 1,000 will experience an accidental pregnancy.
For those who ignore the fertility warning or forget to input their temperature on certain days, seven women in every 100 will experience an accidental pregnancy during the first year.
To use the app correctly, women are required to record the temperature under their tongue and enter it into the app every morning.
It then determines how fertile you are on that day. If it's green, you're not fertile at this stage in time and the risk of pregnancy is very low.
If it's red, then you're extremely fertile, which means unprotected sex is a no-no, unless, of course, you're looking to conceive, when it is a definite 'yes!'
The study found that 'Natural Cycles' has a Pearl Index of 0.5 and 7.0. Meanwhile the contraceptive pill has a Pearl Index of 0.3 and 9.0, the Telegraph reports.
This means that a very similar number of women are expected to get pregnant accidentally while using either 'Natural Cycles' or the pill.
With the contraceptive pill, minor side effects include mood swings, breast tenderness and headaches. In some cases, it can also increase the risk of blood clots and cervical cancer, says NHS Choices.
The app, however, does not interfere with a woman's body in any way and, as a result, there are no side effects.
The independent study was carried out at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, and was published in the European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Healthcare.
