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Birth Control Apps Versus Contraceptives

By Urenna Ukiwe
06 September 2018   |   7:00 am
There is an increase in apps and fertility apps or contraceptive apps are being designed for smartphones to predict the days in which a woman can conceive and when she is safe. This has brought an increase in the use of these apps and a decrease in the use of actual contraceptive pills. ‘Natural Cycles’is…

There is an increase in apps and fertility apps or contraceptive apps are being designed for smartphones to predict the days in which a woman can conceive and when she is safe.

This has brought an increase in the use of these apps and a decrease in the use of actual contraceptive pills.
‘Natural Cycles’is one of such app designed by CERN scientist Elina Berglund and her husband Raoul Scherwitzl which because of their scientific background has given the app a certain trust. This app uses special algorithms to predict safe and unsafe times to have intercourse.

It is the only app that is endorsed for contraception in Europe. In spite of this app, women tend to be sceptical and tend to stick to the medical contraceptives such as pills and IUDs because any misread means the conception of an unwanted pregnancy or even worse abortion.

There are debates about the effectiveness of the app because in cases where it has misread and failed, it is not advisable to trust it 100%.

Contraceptive Pills

But women who lean more towards the apps do so because of the lesser risk of complication which is present in pills and IUDs.

Women feel the need to be able to control fertility and conception but the means to do this is not perfect due to the side effects of the contraceptive.

But there is no perfect contraceptive because both methods come with its own risk, therefore, women tend to lean towards the method that has less risk of complication.

The problems with medical contraceptives [pills and IUDs] and tech contraceptives [apps] is that they are built on a perfect premise.

Women are still anticipating a better contraception option but in the meantime, they are satisfied with choosing a safer option that will reduce the risk and cost of unwanted pregnancy or abortion.

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