Natural cycles apple watch : The software heralded a new era of digital contraception, but it was not without criticism.
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Natural Cycles, a fertility tracking app, said today that it has acquired FDA approval to be integrated into the Apple Watch, a product that is believed to be worn by over 100 million people globally.
Natural Cycles made history in 2018 when it became the first FDA-approved digital contraception method, combining user-inputted temperature data with its algorithm to calculate individuals’ fertile and non-fertile days of their menstrual cycle. It is now about to be implemented into the world’s most popular smartwatches.
According to the firm, the most requested feature of Natural Cycles’ 3-million-strong user base is inclusion on the Apple Watch, which has supported body temperature-based ovulation tracking since its Series 8 edition was released in 2022. It has already being deployed for over a year on the Oura Ring after receiving FDA approval in 2021.
How does Natural cycles apple watch?
Natural Cycles heralded a new generation of contraception, but it was not without controversy. It facilitates the fertility awareness method, a rebranding of natural family planning that involves closely monitoring changes in your body to assess your fertile and non-fertile days each month; as a non-hormonal method, it has proven appealing to many who are concerned about the safety and potential side effects of hormonal methods.
The fertility awareness approach is based on the idea that a woman can become pregnant in just six days throughout her menstrual cycle: the day of ovulation and the five days before it when sperm can survive and fertilize the liberated egg cell.
Natural Cycles uses the temperature curve provided by data to compute the day of ovulation and the days following it, assisting it in determining when unprotected intercourse is safe and when it is not. If you wish to have sex on unprotected days, you must use a barrier technique such as a condom. Users had to manually enter this data every morning when they woke up, using a thermometer to gauge their basal temperature.
Natural Cycles’ remarkable 98 percent success rating as a strategy only works if it is followed consistently and correctly; look at ‘normal use’ and that percentage swiftly drops to 93 percent. In instance, the combined and progesterone contraceptive pills have a comparable discrepancy between perfect and normal use, with efficacy decreasing if a pill is missing, for example.
The dependency of Natural Cycles on temperature data can also be substantially influenced by improper use, down to instances that aren’t always the user’s fault. Not only does it have to be measured at the same time every day, which is presumably more of a problem with manual thermometers than with wearable technology, but Dr. Shazia Malik, a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist in the UK, is concerned that “wearing a watch isn’t somehow going to exclude the things that make temperature readings less accurate.”
Natural cycles, fertility awareness, and the realities of everyday use
As a result, Natural Cycles has been smacked on the wrist in more than one market for not being more forthright about the reality of typical use. A Swedish hospital stated in 2018 that 37 of 668 women who sought abortions there during a three-month period used Natural Cycles as their main form of birth control. While the number of pregnancies was consistent with Natural Cycles’ failure rate, the Swedish Medical Products Agency advised the business to “clarify the risk of unwanted pregnancies” in its instructions, which it did.
The UK’s Advertising Standards Agency concluded that a Natural Cycles Facebook advertisement’s claim that their approach is “highly accurate” was deceptive, and they were cautioned against overstating the system’s effectiveness as a means of contraception.
The CEO and co-founder of Natural Cycles, Elina Berglund, told Mashable that the probability of becoming pregnant unintentionally as a result of the algorithm was “really low” and added that users in cohorts around the age of 30 may exhibit riskier behavior, probably because they are more likely to be established in their lives and unconcerned about becoming pregnant. This was reiterated by Malik, who added, “You should only use [fertility awareness methods] if getting pregnant isn’t going to be a disaster.”
Can this ‘normal’ use be made better by integration with wearable technology? The Apple Watch’s current period monitoring data, Berglund continued, is already being used clandestinely by watch owners as a fertility awareness technique. “We remain the only app with FDA clearance and approval for use as a contraceptive. We’ve published more than four studies on the effectiveness of contraceptives alone, but ease of use and how well it fits into women’s life are just as significant. “We believe the drop off rates will be lower,” she said of the Apple Watch integration.
Which apple watch has temperature sensor
Temperature sensors are a feature of the Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra. These sensors are made to monitor nighttime variations in wrist temperature, giving consumers useful information about their health. One beneath the display and one for measuring body temperature are where the temperature sensors are situated. Users of iPhones can get and view this temperature data using the Health app. You only need to launch the Health app, then “Browse,” then “Body Measurements,” and then “Wrist Temperature.” A temperature chart will appear as a result.
It’s crucial to remember that early Apple Watch models, like the Apple Watch Series 7, don’t include a body temperature sensor, mostly because of software restrictions. Therefore, if temperature monitoring is a specific requirement, it’s advisable to opt for the Apple Watch Series 8 or Apple Watch Ultra.
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