An app to prevent pregnancy? Don’t count on it

Prof Deborah Bateson

writer

Prof Deborah Bateson

Professor of Practice, Co-lead, Cervical Cancer and HPV Stream: Clinical translation and implementation, Daffodil Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney

Prof Deborah Bateson

Fertility awareness apps are being championed as a new approach to contraception. In reality, while the technology may be new, women have been predicting the fertile days in their menstrual cycles to prevent pregnancy for a very long time.

But the growth of the “femtech” industry, alongside a seemingly growing wave of younger women looking to move away from hormonal methods of contraception, has led to a renewed interest.

Fertility awareness methods and apps can help women better understand their bodies, are relatively cost-effective, and have no side-effects.

Yet at the same time, the apps rely on dedicated daily monitoring and data entry, and strictly abstaining from unprotected sex for several days each month. They also leave significant room for user error.

Most importantly, their effectiveness remains to be properly proven with research evidence.

PASSWORD RESET

Forgot your password or password not working? Please enter your email address. You will receive an email with the link to set a new password.

Icon 2

NEXT LIVE Webcast

:
Days
:
Hours
:
Minutes
Seconds
Prof Andrew Sindone

Prof Andrew Sindone

Heart Failure – Demystifying Pharmacological Management for GPs

Dr Rupert Hinds

Dr Rupert Hinds

Iron Deficiency in Children & Young People

Speaker TBA

Speaker TBA

Heart Failure – Assessment and Monitoring in Primary Care

Prof Dave Singh

Prof Dave Singh

COPD Update

Join us for the next free webcast for GPs and healthcare professionals

High quality lectures delivered by leading independent experts

Share this

Share this

Prof Deborah Bateson

writer

Prof Deborah Bateson

Professor of Practice, Co-lead, Cervical Cancer and HPV Stream: Clinical translation and implementation, Daffodil Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney

Recent Posts

Latest GP poll

We asked GPs "To what extent do you support or oppose legislation to allow nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to prescribe PBS medicines and provide Medicare services without an arrangement with a doctor?"

Strongly support

0%

Somewhat support

0%

Neither support nor oppose

0%

Somewhat oppose

0%

Strongly oppose

0%

Recent podcasts

Listen to expert interviews.
Click to open in a new tab

You have completed the Educational Activities component of this resource. 

Select ‘Confirm & claim CPD‘ to confirm you have engaged with this resource in its entirety and claim your CPD.

You will be taken to explore further CPD learning available to you.