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When the BBC reported a shift in contraception use from “hormonal” products like the pill to “natural” fertility tracking apps among some women seeking abortions, many other women got in touch sharing their experiences.
Their stories reveal how difficult it can be to find birth control that fits your lifestyle and has acceptable side effects. There are pros and cons with all types, health experts advise. A method that suited you when you were 18 might not when you are 28, 38 or 48, says Paula Baraitser, medical director of the NHS-partnered free sexual health service provider SH:24.
Fertility tracking apps are a relatively new option that some people are using. They use measurements like body temperature to predict ovulation so the user knows when she would be most likely to get pregnant each month or menstrual cycle and can avoid sex or use a condom on those days.
Dr Baraitser says some of the patients she sees have switched to the apps after struggling on hormonal treatments like the pill.
Taking hormones changes your body and people are very individual in their responses, positive and negative. For example, oestrogen often reduces acne and combined hormonal methods, like the combined pill, patch or ring, help control your bleeding. On the other hand people might experience mood changes or changes to their libido.
She says it can be a process of trial and error, switching between methods until you find something that suits you. Condoms are the only type of contraception that can both prevent pregnancy and protect against sexually transmitted infections.
Georgia, who is 25 and from Bristol, has been using a fertility tracking app for the last seven months. She says her mental wellbeing improved massively when she came off the pill, which she had been taking for around a decade.
Emily, who is 39 and from Glasgow, had an abortion in 2021 after finding out she was pregnant while using a tracking app as contraception. In 2018 she came off the pill which she’d been on since the age of 17, initially to control acne.
Freya, who is 26, came off hormonal contraception in an attempt to see if it might help her mental health. She ended up pregnant within three months and opted for an abortion which she found extremely distressing mentally and physically.
For people interested in fertility tracker apps, there are some things to consider: there are lots of apps but only one licensed fertility app for contraceptive use in the UK; period trackers are not the same and have not been designed to predict when you ovulate or might be fertile; if your menstrual cycles are not the same length every month the days of your cycle when you are fertile might change; if you have a very irregular cycle then apps may find it more difficult to predict your fertility; you must follow the app instructions correctly for it to be as reliable as possible; and if you are monitoring body temperature then how you do it is important.
The app can only tell you when to have sex and when not to. It’s up to you to remember and act on the advice.
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