Natural Cycles Birth Control App

This is the first app in the world to be approved as a contraceptive! To use the app, a woman measures her temperature and the app predicts if she is currently fertile (~10 days per cycle). The app was shown to be slightly more effective at preventing pregnancy than the pill.

https://www.naturalcycles.com/en/contraception

Holy shit. Every part of me is saying this can't be possible.

This is the first app in the world to be approved as a contraceptive! To use the app, a woman measures her temperature and the app predicts if she is currently fertile (~10 days per cycle). The app was shown to be slightly more effective at preventing pregnancy than the pill.

https://www.naturalcycles.com/en/contraception

Interesting idea to link basal temperature to an app. You end up having to use condoms 10 days of the month as your method of protection though I assume.

That method (just without an app) has been around for a long time. It's also known as "Vatican roulette" since it's not nearly as safe as they claim on that site.

Interesting idea to link basal temperature to an app. You end up having to use condoms 10 days of the month as your method of protection though I assume.

Yep, that's true. It seems like a decent option if you had been relying solely on condoms to begin with, or if you wanted to get off the pill to avoid the side effects.

it's not nearly as safe as they claim on that site.

How did you determine that?

That method (just without an app) has been around for a long time. It's also known as "Vatican roulette" since it's not nearly as safe as they claim on that site.

The rhythm method. My aunt with eight kids said this: black people have rhythm, French Canadians have large families.

How did you determine that?

I must admit to only having skimmed the site at first. It's not quite as bad as I thought. Still, similar methods have been around for us to be taught in school about. What the app uses is essentially what's called the "temperature method" (in German, I found no English term). I confounded it with the simple counting method, my bad. Apparently, temperature method does not fare so badly when used with discipline. The app claims to take sperm survival into account. Still, there are lifestyle-based changes in body temperature (alcohol, i.e.), so I wouldn't rely on it. But I admit to having been wrong in dismissing it completely.

any warranty or return policy on this product?

Yeah if you're going to rely on it, you should certainly understand the risks. In a study of over 4000 women, 5% using the app got pregnant, compared to 7% who were on the pill. However, the pill is actually 99.5% effective when properly used. So the app only fares better when compared to how the pill is typically used, not properly used.