App first to be certified by EU for birth control
Nobel Prize winner Elina Berglund, a particle physicist, has developed the first mobile application certified as a method of birth control in the European Union.
Transitioning into the digital age means less of taking the pill and more about reading women’s personalized calendar to personalize birth control for her. The smartphone app, called Natural Cycles, launched in Sweden in 2014. The app records the wearer's daily temperature and details about menstruation to provide information on the user’s fertility. When risk for pregnancy is high, the app displays a red light to notify the user to avoid intercourse or utilize protection. A green light is displayed when the risk for pregnancy is low.
"We've just had to use initially paper calendars, and then calendars on our phones, and ultimately now specific apps that can help us do that,” said Paula Castaño, an OB-GYN at Columbia University. "It could be you just want to know when is my next period going to come, and is that going to coincide with my vacation, or can I use it to help avoid pregnancy or plan for a pregnancy.”
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Cara joined TriMed Media in 2016 and is currently a Senior Writer for Clinical Innovation & Technology. Originating from Detroit, Michigan, she holds a Bachelors in Health Communications from Grand Valley State University.