This cycle app is now officially considered a safe contraceptive

Hormone-free contraceptive methods are on the rise, but were considered to be quite uncertain. For this reason, a Swedish physicist couple has launched the app "Natural Cyles", which measures female fertility using a complex algorithm. And does she do it so well that the application is now certified by TÜV Süd? and officially approved as a contraceptive method.

Four years of intensive work on "Natural Cycles"

The idea for the app "Natural Cycles" came from Elina Berglund during her work at CERN in Switzerland, where she worked as a physicist on the discovery of the Higgs boson. As she reported "Wired", she left the European Organization for Nuclear Research in 2012 and dedicated herself to her own app project? she developed the algorithm, which works on the basis of a complex statistical method. In order for the application to be approved by the TÜV, she had to disclose parts of her business, which she founded together with her husband Raoul Scherwitzl, and submit the results of two clinical studies.



In one study, the app was tested by more than 4,000 women between the ages of 20 and 35 over a year. The result: During the period, there were a total of 143 unplanned pregnancies, of which 10 occurred in the cycle phase, which was considered absolutely harmless for unprotected sexual intercourse. The app was therefore rated with a reliability of 99.5 percent. With the same reliability that reaches the pill. Thus, "Natural Cycles" has a pear index of 0.5, which means that only 5 out of 1,000 women become pregnant during one year.

How does the app work and for whom is it suitable?

The app "Natural Cycles" is based on daily temperature measurement. The users have to measure their temperature every morning under the tongue. The data is then entered into the app, from which the own cycle is calculated. If the application calculates that unprotected intercourse without pregnancy risk is possible, a green day will be displayed. The fertile days are marked with red. Here the users have to choose additional methods of contraception.



"Natural Cycles" is available as a monthly subscription for 5.40 euros or 64.99 euros as an annual subscription in the iOS store or in the Google Play Store. It currently has around 150,000 users in over 161 countries. However, young women or those who definitely do not want to get pregnant should still use the application with caution. Rather, the product appeals to women who can not cope with their current method of contraception and are in firm relationships.

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US Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, 2010 (March 2024).



Contraceptive device, TÜV, Switzerland, contraceptive method