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Smartphone app proves almost as effective as contraceptive pill

Although the rhythm method is one that non-religious organisations might mock or deride as ineffective, it turns out that if you take that sort of idea and mix it up with smart tracking, it actually becomes very effective. Natural Cycles is an application that tracks the user's temperature over time and can give women a very accurate way of testing their fertility – so much so, that it's almost as effective as the pill.

The app works in conjunction with a smartphone compatible thermometer and over time gives tracking and predictive analysis for when women are most and least fertile. This is then divided into red and green days on a calendar, letting them know when it's ‘safe' to have sex with little chance of pregnancy and when it isn't.

In a recent study by Karolinska Institute, Sweden,  of women aged between 20 and 35 who utilised the app, it was discovered that statistically, five out of every thousand women would likely fall pregnant if following the app's advice. In contrast, three out of a thousand women who took their combined contraceptive pill every day would fall ‘accidentally' pregnant.

naturalcycles

When the app wasn't followed quite to the letter, the chances rose to 70 out of a thousand, while in comparison to those who didn't follow the use of their pill correctly all the time, that number was a higher 90 out of 1,000.

Due to the potential side effects of hormone based contraception, this is being hailed as a major study by the Natural Cycles app team, not only because it validates the app's usefulness, but has the potential to unburden women from hormones that they may rather do without.

Of course Natural Cycles can also help couples become pregnant if that's what they want too, giving women a heads up when they are at their most fertile.

The app itself costs $9 a month to subscribe too, though if you pay an upfront $70 (£50) fee, you also get a smartphone thermometer too (as per the Telegraph).

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KitGuru Says: This is great news for those that really wish they could do without the pill and other forms of contraception. 

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6 comments

  1. Yeah. Ok.

    I’m sure this is highly effective, and the claimed reduction in pregnancy rates in no way is because the app tells you not to have sex 20 days out of the month, while if you’re on the pill you can have sex whenever you feel like it.

    I would absolutely trust this app with my birth control requirements, if I was a mentalist or a homosexual.

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  3. I really hope you are a young virgin teen who just knows nothing about this stuff. You are aware a women can only get pregnant ~5-6 days a month. Ovulation occurs on one day a month, but sperm can last inside a women for up to 5 days yielding the additional time.

    I knew this before I was even married. Maybe you slept through health class, if you’ve had it yet…

  4. Sperm can survive for seven days, not five. There is no way to be precise about ovulation, so there is no such thing as ‘safe’ days of the month to have unprotected sex.

    Please don’t hold yourself up as an expert when you clearly know very little. Anyone looking here and reading your bullshit could get into serious trouble.

    If you’re a girl, you owe it to yourself to find a form of contraception YOU alone control. Don’t rely on condoms, don’t only rely on timed abstinence. Get an IUD or implant, or go on the Pill. The alternatives all depend on your partner not being an ignorant idiot like the guy above, or being prepared to follow your wishes.

    That’s not always going to be the case. Use the pill. Use condoms too with new partners, but until you actually want to get pregnant, make sure you can’t.

  5. Are we talking about safe sex or getting pregnant? You flipped the subject.

    You can only get pregnant ONE day a month when a woman ovulates. Only sperm that has survived inside a woman before hand increases the window.

    I also assume you are completely ignorant of how this method works, so let me enlighten you — it is not some magical window that you always know is say, the first week of the month.
    This method involves a months of data collection prior to attempting. The primary data that is monitored is what is called the Basal body temperature, which is the one’s temperature after extended rest. This is taken and recorded right after waking up, without leaving the bed. This reading alone is enough for most women to indicate when their body is about to ovulate.

    Also, since you are determined to be try and be nit-picky about facts, sperm in fact can live 7 days under the most ideal times, congratulations, you can win the award for cherry picking numbers to try and win a discussion.
    However, if you were actually educated about this, you would know that only occurs during the ideal situations provided during ovulation, which if you can think through it, makes the point moot, since it doesn’t matter how long sperm lasts after ovulation.

    But lets be honest here, you are saying what I said is “bullshit” because you don’t like being called out. If you actually knew anything about this, you never would have said “…not to have sex 20 days out of the month…”.

    As it stands, I am guessing you are a 20’s, unmarried, short-term relationship sort of guy. Probably still going to college. Im guessing most of you information thus far has been vague recollection of things you’ve heard, plus the sudden google searches you did to try and save face and come back with that “7 day” number.

    Have a good one, continue on in ignorance my friend!
    P.S. I have work to do, so I refrain from continuing discussions for very long. With that said, feel free to rant in reply as much as you like. Then maybe go google this type of birth control before you slam people for using alternative methods that prove just as effective.

  6. “You can only get pregnant ONE day a month when a woman ovulates.”

    You can just stop talking now, that’s about as stupid a thing as I’ve ever seen presented as fact on the whole internet.