Could A Birth Control App Replace The Pill?
Could A Birth Control App Replace The Pill?
November 16, 2017 6:41 PM By Gilma Avalos
(CBS11) – Natural Cycles is the first app approved by the
European Union as a contraceptive.
The product is the brainchild of Elina Berglund and her
husband Raoul Scherwitzl. The Swedish particle physicist was part of the Noble
Prize winning team that discovered the Higgs boson. She told CBS11, via Skype,
that the Natural Cycles discovery was personal.
“I was searching myself for a hormone-free contraceptive
method, but I didn’t find any good products on the market,” said Berglund, the
CTO.
The app relies on a woman’s temperature. Using a two
decimal basal thermometer–more sensitive than a regular fever thermometer—a
woman takes her temperature first thing in the morning. She enters it into the
app, and an algorithm returns either a red or green day reading.
Green days mean the risk of pregnancy is low. A red day
reading means there is a risk of pregnancy. On those days, women relying on the
app for contraception should use another form of birth control or abstain from
sex. It is why Berglund says the app is ideal for women in stable
relationships.
“It is a compromise between a man and a woman in some
sense. A man has to use condoms certain days and the woman has to measure her
temperature every day. It is gender equal contraception,” said Berglund.
Berglund explains many of the women turning to the app,
are doing so in search of a hormone-free alternative. Sara Flyckt, spoke to
CBS11 via Skype from London. She had previously been using the birth-control
pill and was looking for a more natural alternative.
“I try to live as organically as possible, everything
from washing powder to my food. One day I started thinking ‘how come I have all
these hormones inside my body when it comes to contraception?’ and it didn’t
add up,” Flyckt explains.
Flyckt has been using the app since it became available.
She relied on it for contraception, and then leaned on it when she was ready to
add to her family.
“My daughter is a natural cycles baby,” she said.
Berglund says that’s typical of Natural Cycles users.
This technology may be new, but the basic premise behind
Natural Cycles has been around for ages.
“Your grandmother knew about this. Your great-grandmother
knew about this method,” explains Dr. Joe Chang. Chang is the Associate Chief
Medical Officer for Ambulatory Services at Parkland. He is also a member of the
Obstetrics and Gynecology faculty at University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center.
Your great-grandmother’s method has long had a reputation
for being ineffective. Traditional family awareness based methods have a 24
percent failure rate according to the Centers for Disease Control. But Berglund
insists, her unique algorithm which takes ovulation, sperm survival and other
factors into account, makes all the difference.
“That’s a struggle for us as well. We do not want to be
associated [sic] by the old version that wasn’t so effective. That’s also why
we invest so much in our clinical studies to prove that this is really an
effective form of contraception,” Berglund said.
In its largest clinical study, the company studied more
than 22,785 women and 224,563 menstrual cycles and determined in typical use,
the app was 93 percent effective. They say it’s comparable to typical use of
the birth control pill.
“This app and success of the app depends on how you use
it,” explains Dr. Chang.
“Understand that you’re trying to predict a future event
based on a past event of your last ovulation. We all know that women’s cycles
can vary. So there are some pros and cons there,” he said.
He says women with irregular cycles would not be good
candidates for this method.
“You have to be healthy without other health problems
that might affect your period, or your ability to become pregnant,” Dr. Chang
said.
He says women should also consider whether they can can
stick to the routine of taking their temperature daily.
Experts recommend speaking with your doctor to discuss
the best method of contraception for you.
Natural Cycles is currently seeking FDA approval in the
U.S. where it says it already has over 100,000 users.
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