The joys of natural contraception

Why is it better to be hormone-free?

Many women are happy with hormonal contraception, but many women are also unhappy, experiencing side-effects or worried about long-term health risks. It’s important to provide effective, hormone-free alternatives to these women. I co-founded Natural Cycles, the fertility tracking app which has shown to be as effective as The Pill at preventing pregnancies, which has launched a new initiative to encourage women who use hormonal contraception to go hormone- and chemical-free in 2017.

How does the fertility app work?

A woman measures her temperature with a basal thermometer and enters it into the app. Our proprietary algorithm crunches the number and returns a red or green day depending on whether there is a risk of pregnancy. On red days, women should either use protection or abstain.

How robust is the evidence that the fertility app is reliable?

The study is one of the largest of its kind performed with leading experts in the field of contraception. Most importantly, it shows real life data. In other words, the results reflect the true effectiveness of how women use this app in real life as opposed to a clinical trial where you have a high level of support from healthcare professionals.

What kind of women use this app at the moment? Younger tech-savvy women?

Our app is used by strong, independent women in more than 160 countries all over the world. The vast majority of our users are aged between 20-35. The average age is 29. 70% of our users use the app to prevent pregnancy and 30% to plan a pregnancy. More than 90% of our Prevent users are in a stable relationship.

Is it appropriate for older women nearing menopause?

Yes, absolutely. It also has the additional benefit that the woman can see first-hand in the app how the cycle gradually changes towards menopause. Then the woman might be more prepared when she has all the insights into what is happening.