10 Apr Your Fertility APP is WRONG!
A fertility app is based around a prediction given the dates you enter and some don’t even do that! An Australian Study of the most downloaded fertility tracking APP’s has found that over half doesn’t perform well at predicating ovulation !!! – which is exactly what most women that I see in clinic are using this APP for!
For years I have asked my clients “How do you track your ovulation? Are you ovulating now?”
They quickly check the predicted cycle on the APP and say yes or no based around the predicted dates…… 🤦🏼♀️
I am not surprised at the findings of this research that suggested that less than half 42.7% actually predicted the correct ovulation. So meaning most of these APPS give you the incorrect timing for your fertile window, which means you could be trying to conceive at all the wrong times!
So why are they so wrong?
Some apps just base your cycle around the average women’s cycle – It simply counts back 14 days from your predicted period to give you a fertile window. A women’s cycle is made up of two parts;
Before ovulation aka the follicular phase (name because the growing of a follicle)
After ovulation aka the luteal phase (named because of the corpus luteam that creates the hormones post ovulation)
On average the luteal phase is 11-12 days so when you app counts back 14 days is is WRONG. However what happens when you aren’t average? Or when you cycles vary month to month?
So why are we trusting them with out fertility?
Because we simple aren’t taught any better. Unless you are using a device that actually uses your basal body temperature (BBT) you should never allow your app to predict ovulation.
Because your body is always adapting and adjusting to your external environment, your date of ovulation may vary, even if you have a regular cycle. And if you have irregular cycles then these type of APPS will defiantly not work for you!
What should we be doing instead?
Instead I recommend 1 of 2 options;
- Proper Cervical Mucus Charting – Below I am sharing with your the notes I give my patients in the clinic so that you can get tracking properly!
- Basal Temperature Charting (BBT) – Although this can be a painful exercise for many women it gives me as a practitioner highly valuable information. I recommend using the website https://www.fertilityfriend.com/ can teach you all you need to know about charting your cycle properly with BBT.
So here is my super simple mucus charting document for you to use
Dr Lauren Surridge (TCM) is the Acupuncturist, Chinese Herbalist and owner of Balanced Life Health Care. To find out more about Lauren click here and to make an appointment to see Lauren at her clinic in Ferntree Gully click here
