Washington, DC -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/09/2014 -- Cycle Technologies announced today the launch of a new iPhone app designed to help women use the TwoDay Method®, a natural family planning method that is based on a woman’s individual fertility symptoms and is extremely easy to use. The app can be used both to plan a pregnancy and to prevent pregnancy.
The scientifically proven methodology behind the patent pending 2Day app was developed by the Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University. To accurately use the method, a woman simply needs to note the presence or absence of cervical secretions. It doesn’t require extensive observations and charting to be accurate and effective like other symptoms-based methods.
The method was tested in ongoing research studies starting in 2004, and proven to be 96% effective at preventing pregnancy. However it has not been made available on a wide-scale basis until now.
“Before smartphones it would have been almost impossible to make this information widely available and to provide women with a cost-effective tool to use it. Technology allows us to do this in an efficient way – putting this simple family planning method right into a woman’s hands. We are thrilled to have a new, effective solution to offer women,” says Leslie Heyer, President of Cycle Technologies.
The TwoDay Method relies on an individual woman observing the presence or absence of secretions. If she sees secretions today OR yesterday, she is fertile. If she does NOT want to get pregnant, she and her partner can use a barrier method or avoid intercourse. If she did not observe secretions today OR yesterday, then she is unlikely to get pregnant on that day.
“After years of working with different fertility awareness-based methods, we realized that there was a need to identify a method that could be easily taught and used correctly. Our researchers saw that the common denominator for ALL fertile days is the presence of noticeable cervical secretions. Additional information, such as characteristics of the secretions or even things like body temperature is really not necessary when using this method. This is what makes it an easy method to learn and use,” says Dr. Victoria Jennings, Director of the Institute for Reproductive Health.
“There are a number of fertility apps on the market” says Heyer, “but frankly they require a lot of work – taking your temperature every morning, observing your secretions in great detail, etc. For a lot of women, using a natural family planning method that requires her to analyze her symptoms is just too much. This app changes that.”
The company plans to make the 2Day family planning app available for free through the month of July. After that, the app will be available to download at a low price in the iTunes store.
More information about the method and the iPhone app are available at twodaymethod.com
About Cycle Technologies
Cycle Technologies is a socially minded consumer products company that creates Brilliantly Simple™ tools to help solve complex global problems. Since 2002 the company has worked with researchers, healthcare partners, and investors to seek leading edge ideas that fit its mission. Under the Solutions for Unmet Need in Family Planning Program (SUN-FP), the company has worked with the Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University to create tools that help meet the needs of women in a range of contexts. These tools include the 2Day app as well as CycleBeads®, CycleBeads® Online and iCycleBeads™ smartphone apps – tools based on a calendar-based natural family planning method. To date more than 3 million women in 60+ countries have used CycleBeads to plan or prevent pregnancy resulting in an estimated 4.5 million unplanned pregnancies prevented and 750,000 pregnancies successfully planned.