Most of us who know the monthly hell of having a period use some kind of cycle tracker app – and when you’re trying for a baby, a lot of us turn to fertility apps to help keep tabs on things. But are they actually doing more harm than good?
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Trying for a baby should be one of the most exciting times in your life – but when it doesn’t happen right away, anticipation gives way to anxiety, and for a lot of us women, a desperate need to try and control the uncontrollable.
Enter fertility apps, the jazzy little things on your phone that say they’ll tell you when you’re ovulating, so you can maximise your chance of getting pregnant.
Wellington woman Whitney says she planned her entire life around her fertility app when trying to conceive with her husband Ryan – so much so that life was a military operation, and zero hundred hours was go time, baby.
“For 11 months we operated accordingly, with no luck and man, I was really starting to get frustrated and stressed. Then I took an ovulation test, and my app had been five days out.
“I gave up the app and we decided to just go with the flow – and four months later, I was pregnant.”
While super-useful for predicting when Aunt Flo makes a visit, there have been heaps of studies looking into cycle predictor apps and fertility – and most of them simply can’t do what they claim.
A 2018 US study found that a deviation of even a few days could lead to a couple trying to conceive on days of low fertility, and a 2016 study analysed 20 websites and 33 apps – only one website and three apps predicted the precise fertile window of the subject.
Apps use algorithms and probabilities, derived from their own databases of information to predict cycles and windows – but what they don’t consider is irregular cycles and every person’s unique cycle, says Fertility Associates’ Group Medical Director, Dr Andrew Murray.
“Ultimately, all they are is a calendar, and I think those using the apps assume there is more science behind them than there actually is. All they are doing is taking an average length of cycle and make assumptions – they’re not actually measuring anything specific to that woman.
“And it does make for some sad stories – I’ve had patients diligently record when their period has been, and made assumptions as to when they’re ovulating. There’s an underlying assumption that every woman ovulates, but many don’t.
“So many of these women end up wasting and losing precious time trying to track what’s going on.”
A comprehensive review, which examined 18 studies from 13 countries, says that research exists that fertility apps are not always accurate. Published in the medical journal BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health in 2020, the research tells that while the apps’ main feature is to predict a fertile window, the “limited evidence that did exist cast doubt” on the claims.
“The evidence seems to indicate that many of the most popular apps are not accurate, even though they might contain information that supports pregnancy planning or are marketed specifically for this purpose,” the review says.
“[It] could be very misleading for women and couples that are trying for a baby.”
Since the pandemic, download rates of such apps have increased markedly – partly due to couples deciding to have a baby instead of things such as travel and home ownership, and also because waiting lists for medical services have increased.
The biggest danger of the apps, says Andrew, is the potential for women to waste time by taking the measurements as gospel.
“They’re great for keeping a record of what’s going on, but there is no study I’m aware of, anywhere in the world, that have shown that apps help getting pregnant.
“Also, a lot of them are sponsored – they’re collecting data which will ultimately mean you’ll end up on a database that markets things like ovulation kits or home sperm test kits.”
So, when should you be trying to conceive?
While the fundamentals of conceiving are fairly obvious – egg, sperm, etc – Andrew reckons we’ve been subjected to a bit of a false narrative when it comes to ovulation.
“I think we have somehow given the message to women and couples that in order to get pregnant, you have to nail ovulation at a really specific time. There’s not just apps that try and help women nail that date, there’s at-home ovulation kits and temperature monitoring too.
“But I’m actually not a fan of all that. It’s useful in the beginning when you make the decision to try for a baby, and you can establish what your menstrual cycle looks like. But it very quickly starts to run the risk of becoming a science experiment and not a fun, exciting time – and as a consequence it can create anxiety. You often hear it becomes about baby-making, not lovemaking.”
So, what’s the answer? In his opinion, Andrew says to take a much wider, and broader, approach to conceiving.
“I think it’s much healthier to take a wider range of days and figure out the window, which isn’t just a specific day. If we look at what’s actually happening in the body, sperm can live up to three days in the ovulation tract, so even if you have sex before you’re ovulating, that’s fine. But also, women’s bodies have some variability – it’s not an engineering machine, it’s a biology machine. Usually, you end up with a seven-day window. I’ll sit down with couples and work that out, and I’ll say to couples, forget about the apps. Focus on having regular intercourse – every second day perhaps.
“It’s amazing if you give couples a wider, less specific timeframe, it really takes the pressure off.”
“It very quickly starts to run the risk of becoming a science experiment and not a fun, exciting time – and as a consequence it can create anxiety. You often hear it becomes about baby-making, not lovemaking.”
Dr Andrew Murray
So, how can you get pregnant? Of course, it’s not that simple – but knowledge is power
The main thing for people wanting to get pregnant to remember is that knowledge is power, says Andrew.
“As I said before, my main concern is that women might be wasting time on these apps, when there could be an issue that we could have got on top of earlier.”
So, how long should you wait before consulting medical professionals, like your GP or Fertility Associates?
“If a woman is 28 or younger, in theory they should have great-quality eggs and should be getting pregnant relatively quickly” explains Andrew.
“If she hasn’t become pregnant within six months, it’s a good idea to have a chat with us, just in case there’s something going on, like fallopian tube issues or endometriosis.”
“For women aged between 28 and 35, it’s reasonable to try for a year or so before seeking help – but given that it can take a bit of time to get in front of help, my advice would be to start thinking about seeking help around nine or 10 months.
“And if you’re over 35, although they might be ovulating perfectly well and there’s no problems per se, they have a little bit more of a race against the biological clock, so if they aren’t pregnant within six months, they should seek help early as well.
“Essentially, with anyone wanting to become pregnant, we want to find out if there are any issues as early as we can, so we can set about helping get on top of them. A really good quote is that you need to think about your last baby, not your first one. We offer free nurse consultations at Fertility Associates, and there are really simple things women can do such as AMH tests that will give us a good foundation to start with.”