For those hoping to get pregnant, a slew of period-tracking and ovulation-predicting apps offer the ability to monitor one’s cycle.
A search for “period tracker” in the iTunes App Store brings up more than 300 results, and Googling for the same brings up more than 9 million. Among the options are Period Tracker, My Cycles and Fertility Friend.
Dr. Isaac Sasson, a fertility specialist at Shady Grove Fertility in Chesterbrook, Chester County, recommends the Glow app to patients. It has a menstrual and fertility calendar, a daily health log for things like moods or medications, and it can be connected with a partner.
He considers the apps a helpful thing for couples trying to conceive; patients can pull up info they’ve tracked about their ovulation, showing him multiple data points collected in one virtual folder, at the touch of the screen.
“I think it’s great, because they’ve become much more aware and in tune with their body,” he said.
An app like Kindara offers three initial goals as options: “I want to get pregnant,” “I want to avoid pregnancy” or “I want to track my period.”
The options to input data include tracking cervical fluid, sex, menstruation and ovulation, and pregnancy tests. It also offers community forums where users can share a calendar-like chart created by the app, along with personal information if they choose to discuss with other users.
Mostly women download the apps, said a spokesperson for Ovuline (www.ovuline.com), which has the Ovia app. Ovia offers information on tracking not only your period but also your ovulation data points. It collects and analyzes things like basal body temperature, cervical fluid, health and mood symptoms, and any ovulation tests.
Women who use the apps say they’re a font of information and an easy way to keep track of bodily functions. While some say it’s a helpful place to store things like moods and period dates, others may find them a slippery slope to frantic fertility fears at the tap of a phone.
Women who download apps sometimes start to track just their period before wanting to get pregnant, perhaps preferring that to birth control. Then, when they are aiming for pregnancy, they use them to monitor fertility.
Prices and options vary; apps available in the iTunes store range from free to $5.99.
Many women said the apps help them feel more in control of their fertility. Also, some say they learned much about their body that they wouldn’t have known before, like details on the workings of their reproductive cycle.
Sasson cautions that too much information surrounding an emotional topic like fertility can be dangerous. He encourages patients to balance being informed with not spending every waking moment worrying about when they will get pregnant.
“I’ve had a woman bring me in a binder of two years’ worth of ovulation-predicting kits,” he said. “I said, ‘I think you need to stop doing this.'”
The allure of information can similarly feed a fertility-obsessed frenzy.
“I see people using two apps,” he said. “That’s overkill. I think one app is more than enough.”
And, he noted, make sure the app isn’t acting as your physician. If you’ve been trying to get pregnant with no luck, don’t be afraid to make an appointment with your doctor.
“If you’re willing to download an app, you should be willing to make an appointment with your provider,” he said.
Want to boost (or reduce) your chance of getting pregnant? There’s an app for that.
