Slashdot Mirror


Contraceptive App Natural Cycles Blamed For String of Unwanted Pregnancies (standard.co.uk)

An anonymous reader shares a report: A contraceptive mobile phone app used by tens of thousands of British women has come under fire after reportedly sparking a string of unwanted pregnancies. Swedish birth control app Natural Cycles, which costs $55, tracks body temperature to accurately predict when in the month a woman is more likely to fall pregnant. The period monitor was hailed as a non-mood altering alternative to the pill and, if used perfectly, was found to be 99 per cent effective by researchers. But the app has come under fire after the Sodersjukhuset hospital in Stockholm lodged a complaint with the Swedish Medical Products Agency, the country's government body responsible for regulation of medical devices. It claimed staff at the hospital had recorded 37 women who had fallen pregnant in the last quarter of 2017 after using the app. One midwife said the hospital had a duty to report all side effects.

6 of 423 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Swedes try product because of marketing by xpiotr · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Who would have thought an unverifiable, exceptional claim of 99% efficacy

    You good sir might want to Reread The Friendly Article. The article clearly states that at an average the success rate is estimated to 93%.
    7% of the women report getting pregnant, so the number seems to fit very well
    93% is also stated on their home page : https://www.naturalcycles.com/
    (99% was a number stated if the app was used in strict compliance, but they know it isn't.)

  2. Re:Swedes try product because of marketing by jdavidb · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I'm pro-life and anti-government. I don't believe in the government trying to punish people for abortion, and I don't believe in the government stealing from some people to give to others.

  3. Re:Swedes try product because of marketing by bjdevil66 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What a self-righteous load of BS.

    Yes, people should have to deal with their choices, but they should also use their God-given brains and technology to do just that - deal with their choices in the best way for them.

    Or should they have to live with that choice forever? Or can they rectify the mistake and move on? In other cases in life, it's the latter, isn't it. If someone steals a car, do they have to keep the car forever? No - they can give it back and confess, sell it and move on, etc. If someone is cruel to another at some point in time, can't they apologize later? Robbery, lying, cheating, etc. People need to be able to move on after their sins, right?

    You may think this is different because "another life" is involved. Fine; Let's put aside the fact that there's no scientific evidence that a fetus has a conscious spirit in there that's independent of the mother at the point of conception. Let's just talk religion (Christian dogma). Consider the following: If there IS a spirit in that fetus that is slain in an abortion, God will either just 1) give them another body to come down to this Earth to live out their life again somewhere else, or 2) take that spirit right up into Heaven to live with Him forever - and eventually be resurrected with their own bodies. There is no third option. In either scenario, the baby is ultimately BETTER off, aren't they? Isn't either scenario better than if they're born into this world as an unwanted nuisance (or worse).

    In this world, freedom of choice trumps life. It was God's plan to give us choice - along with the ability to repent of our sins and move on. Abortion allows some people to move on, and until we know better about whether a baby has its own spirit or not at conception (if it does have a spirit, that changes things, IMO), it is the compromise that we should live with in modern society.

    Disclaimer: I personally abhor abortion. I've given up a child for adoption to give them a better life than I could've ever given them back then as an irresponsible teenager. (And living with that is tough at times today, almost 30 years later - just like an abortion would be for some, never knowing "what if").

  4. Re:Swedes try product because of marketing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Let me get this straight:

    1) Conception to birth - Must not kill / Ok to die from lack of health care / food / shelter
    2) Birth to 18 - Should not kill / Ok to die from lack of health care / food / shelter
    3) 18 to Death - Kill at will / Ok to die from lack of health care / food / shelter

    As far as I can tell this about sums up the US view on life and death for a human being.

  5. Re:Swedes try product because of marketing by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Studies have shown that women are more attractive to men when they're ovulating

    Indeed. Strippers earn 30% more in tips when they are ovulating.

  6. Re:Swedes try product because of marketing by MightyYar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "Killing through inaction"? First of all, that's a very different thing than deliberate killing. Second, you are painting with an awfully broad brush. I know that plenty of religious people spend an enormous amount of time and money on the charitable aspects of their religion. It would be pretty straightforward to argue that they are even more moral than people who force others to be charitable unwillingly through taxes. I could play the same strawman game as you and paint pro-choice people as selfish people who want to take other people's money and funnel it to their own causes. That gets us nowhere. I think you should take a step back and realize that, when it comes to general welfare, people have pretty much the same goals with different ideas of how to get there. Demonization might win you some quick political points, but hurts everyone in the long run.

    --
    W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.