TOAfter 15 years on the birth control pill, Francesca* decided she wanted to know what her body felt like without additional hormones. She started using a fertility tracking app, which tracks menstrual cycles or ovulation symptoms to help estimate a woman’s fertile window, after meeting them on social media.
“I had been taking hormones since my teens and had no real conception of my menstrual cycle in my adult life,” said the Londoner, now in her early 30s. She was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) at age 18 and told to continue taking the pill to help with her symptoms. “Surprisingly, almost all of my hormone imbalance symptoms started to go away after I stopped taking the pill,” she said.
At first, he found using the app positive. She said she followed the instructions to the letter and took additional ovulation tests as an extra precaution: “I felt more in control of my cycle and my body than ever before.”
But then, after eight months, she became pregnant and suffered a “traumatic” abortion. She started using the app again thinking the unwanted pregnancy had been the result of human error, but became pregnant again five months later. “Every time I see (these apps) advertised online or on social media, I feel compelled to warn people against their claims,” she said. “I would recommend extreme caution to anyone using them as the sole method of contraception.”
Francesca was one of those who contacted The Guardian to share her experience using fertility apps, after a report suggested women in England and Wales are increasingly ditching the pill in favor of apps. fertility monitoring, which increases the risk of an increase in unplanned pregnancies. .
She was not the only person who described having an unwanted pregnancy while using a fertility tracker, but other women who had successfully used the apps to avoid pregnancy or conceive were contacted, with some describing them as “lifesavers.” and “liberating”. ”.
A common refrain in the responses of people who shared their experiences was the feeling that, despite the launch of a new women’s health strategy in July 2022, women are still often poorly treated by the health system . “The experience of many women in the UK is that GPs are often not adequately trained in female reproductive health,” Francesca said. “(These apps) speak to these concerns and lack of attention.”
Other readers described their experience as “totally positive.” Sarah*, a 38-year-old reader from Yorkshire, had successfully used an app for 18 months as a contraceptive and for a similar period of time to help her and her partner conceive. Having battled deep depression during the weeks of her pill-free cycle, she hasn’t suffered the same way since.
“Coming off the pill was an amazing feeling,” she said. “I had it when I was 15 for problems with my cycle and looking back I feel frustrated that the decision was made to simply suppress my cycle, rather than trying to understand what was happening. Tracking my own cycle now feels great – with a fertility app and my own knowledge, I understand what my body is doing each month and I no longer feel like I’m working against my body.”
The last 15 months have been hard for her and her partner. They suffered two early miscarriages and had to terminate them for medical reasons. But she feels the app has helped her. “The NHS recommends having unprotected sex every two or three days and that seems like a lot of pressure when we’ve been trying for 18 months,” she said. “I also feel a little more in control during our loss recovery as I can see my data being recovered in the app.”
Olivia, a 30-year-old reader from Leeds, was told she had to lose weight when she was diagnosed with PCOS so she could start using the pill. But after hearing her friends talk about the negative side effects, she wanted to explore other birth control methods. Her doctor was dismissive and appeared to be reading prepared material on contraception when they spoke during a telephone consultation, she said. She decided to take a different path.
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“I’ve tracked my periods for over a decade, it really helped me when I was diagnosed with PCOS, because I had that history,” she said. “It has helped me track, predict and follow my body’s signals, and now I am pregnant with our first child.”
After three children and decades of using condoms and copper coils to prevent pregnancy, Hannah*, a 50-year-old woman from Aberystwyth, said she found her fertility tracking app “liberating”.
“I never took the pill or used any hormonal contraceptive because it always seemed unnatural to me,” she said. “The app allows us to confidently have sex at certain times of the month and not worry about making a mistake.”
*Names have been changed