The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just approved the Natural Cycles application, as contraceptive. This is the first time that an application of this type has been approved in the United States. Natural Cycles offers “effective and natural birth control” by monitoring menstrual cyclesof the user. It makes it possible to identify, by taking the temperature in particular, the ovulation period. The user is supposed to rely on the calculations of the algorithm that tracks hormonal cycles. The application provides information on periods at risk of pregnancy or not, the risky periods being indicated by a red color and the risk-free periods being indicated in green. Natural Cycles promises 93% efficacy, which is believed to allow the user to have pregnancy-safe sex without contraception like the pill. The Swedish application is chargeable and requires taking your temperature with a brand thermometer.
Problem, the application is in the crosshairs of the Swedish health authorities. The Swedish Medicines Regulatory Agency opened an investigation in early 2018 after being seized by hospitals across the country worried about unwanted pregnancies. 37 Swedish women had to undergo pregnancy termination after becoming pregnant while using Natural cycles for birth control. The company defended itself by specifying that it was approved as a medical device with the CE mark.
A method with criticized reliability
Certain American health professionals do not hide their concern at the American approval of this communication application, which some consider “aggressive”. Dr Lauren Streicher, director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause in Chicago (USA) is one of them. She considers this method of contraception which requires users to take their temperature on waking every morning at the same time each day “extremely impractical”. Certain hazards such as “the cold, the simple fact of getting up before taking your temperature can falsify the results of the application”, making fertility forecasts less precise, she observes at Brit.co website.
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