If you’re fed up of filling your body up with hormones by taking the pill, but don’t trust yourself to rely on condoms, your contraceptive options can end up feeling a little limited.
A smartphone app has been approved for the first-time ever as a viable tech alternative to the more traditional safe sex measures on the market.
The Natural Cycles app has been given the official seal of approval by European regulatory body TÜV SÜD, who were acting on the behalf of UK government body MHRA [Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency].
Meaning that it has been extensively tested in clinical trials and given the go-ahead as an alternative to the pill, IUDs or condoms.
Researchers said that among those who use the app correctly, five women out of every 1,000 will experience an accidental pregnancy.
Meaning it is 99.5% effective compared to the pill, which the NHS gives 99% effectiveness.
The study also gave the app a Pearl Index of 0.5 and 7.0. Meanwhile the contraceptive pill has a Pearl Index of 0.3 and 9.0, the Telegraph reports.
The app works by using a smart algorithm to tell you exactly when it isn’t wise to be getting it on.
To use it correctly, women need to record the temperature under their tongue and enter it into the app every morning. It then determines how fertile you are on that day. If it’s green, you’re not fertile at this stage in time and the risk of pregnancy is very low.
If it’s red, then you’re extremely fertile, which means unprotected sex is a no-go zone. Unless you fancy having a baby of course.
The app is already being used by 150,000 women in 161 countries around the world, but if you’re still struggling to come to terms with trusting your phone on this one, we get it.
Although you might be reassured to know one of the co-creators of the app, Dr Elina Berglund is one of the scientists who discovered the Higgs Boson, which led to the Nobel Prize in 2013.
Written with input from Huffingtonpost