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A contraceptive app is 93 per cent effective, and even better than the pill!

The app uses body temperature to track a woman’s menstrual cycle.

The findings, based on 22,785 women, even show Natural Cycles works slightly better than the Pill in preventing pregnancies, reported Daily Mail. 

The smartphone app, which is approved in the EU as a contraceptive, predicts the days of the month when a woman is most fertile.

On these, which are called red days, it advises couples use a condom to reduce the risk of an accidental pregnancy.

Since its inception in 2014, its manufacturers have claimed it to have a 93 per cent effectiveness rate. However, the trials were based on much smaller groups.

Professor Kristina Gemzell Danielsson, based at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, was behind the results – which are the largest of its kind.

She said: ‘Since more and more women are choosing natural contraception as an option, we welcome that there is a certified app with solid clinical evidence.’

Dr James Trussell, based at Princeton University, New Jersey, also welcomed the research published in the journal Contraception.

He said: ‘This is the first study to provide typical and perfect-use estimates of effectiveness of an app and shows the app is effective.’

Participants involved in the study had an average age of 29. Nearly 7 per cent went onto become pregnant.

The Pill is known to have 91 per cent effectiveness in preventing pregnancies. Other methods can be as low as 75 per cent.

Dr Raoul Scherwitzl, co-founder of the app said the results ‘confirm the effectiveness of Natural Cycles, which is used by 380,000 people worldwide.  You can read more about the app here.

Would you feel safe using an app for contraception?

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  • wow that really is a big claim! i hope that for women’s sake, it works well. Apps for anything lol

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  • Do we really need an app for that?? I wouldn’t trust it.

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  • I guess this is the opposite to when you want to get pregnant. You track your cycle. I didn’t need an ap for that. So I don’t need an ap for this.

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  • The rhythm method has been around for ages…
    People have wanted and needed to prevent pregnancy for thousands of years. Before the birth control pill and condoms came along, couples had to figure out their fertile days each month, and avoid sex during those times. Today, that’s known as periodic abstinence, also called the rhythm method.
    An app that predicts the most fertile time is genius and I only wish I had invented it.

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  • I don’t think I’d risk it.

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  • I wouldn’t use this method. I would be too scared ????

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  • Yes, I think it’s great and safe to follow the cues of your body as contraception or in the case you want to conceive.

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  • Sounds like it’s based on the billings system. A great alternative if you’re dedicated to taking your temperature that often.


    • This was my first thought too – seems to be very much this method.

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  • Thing is it’s based on the science of our female cycles – when you know what to look for you know when you’ve ovulated and aren’t fertile (and therefore when you are fertile and can conceive) Such a great natural system and I’m glad there’s an app to help track what stage my body is up to each month!
    Not everyone can or wants to be on the pill so it’s great other ways are becoming easier

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  • No it would not be my choice to use!

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  • It sounds like it works, but it aso sounds like ou’d have to work harder to remember than with other or s if contraception.

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  • 93% isn’t safe enough for a contraception.
    But for people trying to get pregnant why not !

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  • No thanks – there would need to be a massive clinical study across many countries with a wide target group to convince me of the effectiveness of this method.

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  • Mmmm… personally I don’t think I would feel very safe with it! :-)

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  • Pffft. Its a big risk to take. Could use both?

    Reply

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