Want to get pregnant? Don’t want to get pregnant? Share your tips with Natural Cycles - £300 to be won NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

It’s – for many – one of life’s juxtapositions that we can spend many months and years trying to avoid pregnancy and can also spend a long time trying to get pregnant!

The team behind Natural Cycles, the fertility app for women which, in clinical studies, has been shown to be as effective as The Pill, would love to hear your tips and stories based on fertility – how you listen to your body to look for signs of ovulation, how you managed to conceive and whether you use natural methods to control your fertility at all.

They say “Natural Cycles works by identifying a woman’s ovulation and fertile window by tracking her period and temperature.” Women are required to record the temperature under their tongue in the morning and enter it into the app which uses a unique algorithm to determine whether you are fertile on that day. “The success of Natural Cycles depends on its algorithm”, says Dr Elina Berglund, Natural Cycles CTO and co-founder. The app was invented by husband and wife team Dr Raoul Scherwitzl and Dr Elina Berglund who was part of the Nobel Prize-winning team that discovered the Higgs boson. “We’ve called the algorithm ‘Alba’ and it’s unique because it has collected data from hundreds of thousands of cycles. This means Natural Cycles can adapt to each individual woman’s body and, with a high degree of precision and accuracy, determine when she is ovulating.” Natural Cycles has 130,000 users in 161 countries.

They’d also love to know what you think about the app – based on first impressions – have a look here and share on this thread what you think? Do you think the app would be a convenient alternative to the contraception you use now or something you’d consider if you were TTCing?

Whatever your story, please share it below and you will be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list). PLUS 50 posters selected at random will also win a lovely gift from Natural Cycles – which includes 6 month of free subscription and a basal thermometer (worth £43).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draws.

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Used the temperature method to conceive my first. As i scientist i felt confident gathering the temp data and plotting it onto a graph myself but an app would have been very convenient and much easier.

I have used ovulation kits in the past to both get pregnant and not get pregnant as I can't take the pill, so yes I would try an app, not sure I would pay for one though.

I'm trying now for a baby but don't know which direction to go I think I'm just going with the flow if it's going to happen it will if it don't then it's just one of those things that wasn't meant to be but some great tips on here if I changed my mind and was determined to have another baby x

I think this looks great. I'm very limited in contraceptive options because of severe progesterone intolerance, but my current IUD is causing side effects that are negatively impacting my life. I've tried the cervical mucus method before and honestly could not tell the difference between "egg white" "creamy", etc, so that was a non-starter. Temperature methods seem to require waiting around until a good while ovulation, which is very boring inconvenient! I'd love something if I could actually trust it to accurately predict ovulation ahead of time.

I am not trying to conceive at the moment but would try this app if I were to try again.

do lots of reading and visit your dr for a chat

Having come off the pill I find it easy to tell when I'm fertilewith cervical mucus

I have three kids so not looking to have any more at the moment! (plenty to be getting on with) Didn't bother with ovulation test when I was getting pregnant as I got pregnant very quickly each time, thankfully.

Had a quick look at the app and it looks good, if I was planning a baby its something I might consider but would prob try the similar free apps first.

I think its a really good idea for people TTC, but I certainly wouldn't use it as a birth control method.

Would never trust an app as a type of contraception.

I like your money back guarantee if you don't get pregnant within a year. Builds confidence in your product which may in turn, subconsciously affect a woman's ability to get pregnant. Win win!

After deciding that 2 children are enough for us, I don't think i'd use it to plan NOT to get pregnant, but I think if we were to change our minds again & ttc then I would find this really helpful, yes it's a tad on the expensive side but i'd still be happy to give it a go

Wouldnt pay for this sort of thing - equivalent free things out there to use instead

I have heard that apps have worked for some people but for me it was a foot massage! Worked twice!

Great app.

I already use natural methods as contraception. I input on paper. I have looked for a suitable app but not found one I liked the look of. I was therefore interested for that reason. I won't be downloading it. It is not marketed at those who want to avoid pregnancy which doesn't give me confidence in its accuracy. It does not use information on cervical mucus. I would pay for an app, but not this much money every month.

I have used temping to aid contraception. The main drawback is that my libido is highest on fertile days. So the method is only as good as the contraceptive method you use on those days.

The app seems expensive and whilst I may consider it if I was trying to conceive there is no way I would use it as a method of contraception. The website seems more aimed at people trying to conceive anyway.

I was lucky enought not to have to monitor, it just happened very naturally

I came off hormonal contraception when we first decided to start trying for a baby. I felt so much better after coming off it and after having our first child I wanted to find an alternative method of contraception. Since we will be trying again I thought a natural alternative that doesn’t interfere with my body and easily lets me decide whether I can become pregnant or not is the way to go. Having had a look around I tried fertility friend for a while, although it has some similar features - it’s quite difficult to understand and I feel like there’s a lot of jargon in it. I decided to give Natural Cycles a go when I read an article about the founders who had a need for an alternative contraceptive and cause their scientists decided to develop the app themselves.

Since we won’t be trying for quite a while again my husband was very skeptical in the beginning but after doing some more research I convinced him that we should give it a go. I been tracking my cycles for about 6 months now in the beginning I got a lot of red days which had me somewhat fed up but after about three months I started getting more and more green days. Im wondering have any of you experienced this with your partners? How do you go about discussing this type of stuff?

i amavoiding pregnancy at the moment

I looked at my typical cycle and worked out my fertile "window" and was lucky enough that that worked for us both times.

Not sure i'd use this to prevent pregnancy but i'd definitely be interested in it to help myself fall pregnant. The stats side of it are really up my street and I think it would be a very useful and efficient way to work out your cycle.

Wow i've never heard of this before! I'm in the definitely AVOIDING being pregnant group. But not taking any oral contraceptive etc. I love the sound of this app, and how useful it could be to someone like me who doesn't want to take anything to prevent pregnancy so I can be extra careful.

I don't think I would use it as a form of contraception, but would find it useful if I was TTC.