News/Blog

CycleBeads Myth: Men won't use this family planning method.
We hear this a lot especially from health providers working in particularly male dominant social contexts. There is a sense that men in these situations don’t care whether or not their partners get pregnant and/or can’t control themselves if they have to abstain or use a condom.

The Truth: It is true that it's important that both partners agree to use this method in order for it to be successful. However, there have been numerous surprising examples of how interested men actually are in using this method. They are often happy to have a method that won't cause side effects for their female partners and the fact that CycleBeads is a clear visual tool changes the dynamic of a conversation about whether or not it's a good time to have sex or use a condom.

One example of the interest level among men occurred  in a program in Benin when CycleBeads were first introduced in that country. There was concern that men in this male dominant and Muslim country might not be willing to use CycleBeads. The health clinics were shocked when men started showing up asking for CycleBeads to take home to their wives. The providers had initially planned to counsel women and thought that they would have to give them the tools to convince their husbands. In fact, they had to change their protocols so that they could counsel the male partners who in turn wanted to explain it to their wives.

Posted in: Men and Family Planning, CycleBeads

Believe it or not, college students are often hesitant to talk about their sex lives, but health educators need them to do exactly that in order to provide students with the best health services. We spoke with Katie Garcia, health educator at Vanderbilt University, to find out how she gets students to open up about sexual health issues.

Posted in: Contraceptive Options, Fertility, Fertility Awareness, Interviews with Health Providers, Men and Family Planning, Womens Health

A recent study featured in the New York Times found that injectable contraceptives such as Depo-Provera,  double the risk that women will become infected with HIV. Furthermore, if a woman is HIV positive, use of injectable contraceptives appear to double the risk that she will transmit the virus to her partner.

Posted in: International Family Planning, Men and Family Planning, Research, Womens Health

A True Partnership

Melanie and Levan are happy. Married for years, and co-owners of a school canteen in the Phillipines’ Marakina City, this husband and wife are partners in every sense of the word. Together, they raise three children, manage a business and even collaborate on family planning.

Posted in: CycleBeads, International Family Planning, Men and Family Planning, Natural Birth Control

Many healthcare providers traveling to developing countries have found CycleBeads® to be a useful educational tool and family planning option during their medical missions.  Below is the story of one midwife’s experience in Haiti and how she used CycleBeads during her trip.

Posted in: Contraceptive Options, CycleBeads, International Family Planning, Men and Family Planning, mHealth, Womens Health

We’ve been investigating how a woman’s cycle affects male-female relationships and have found that when a woman is accurately informed about what is going on with her body and can clearly communicate it to her partner, it enhances the relationship overall. Sounds easy enough, but what is a good way to accomplish this?

Posted in: CycleBeads, Fertility Awareness, Men and Family Planning

In our last post, “Can a Woman’s Cycle Affect Her Relationships with Men?” we looked at how a woman’s cycle impacts her most intimate relationships. It’s clear that a woman’s menstrual cycle does affect her male partner. But are men really interested in understanding how a woman’s cycle works? What do they already know? And at the end of the day, does a guy’s knowledge of the menstrual cycle affect a couple’s relationship?

Posted in: Men and Family Planning, Natural Birth Control, CycleBeads

The menstrual cycle has long been considered a “woman’s issue”. This seems logical, since only women have a menstrual cycle, but a woman’s cycle can also significantly affect her partner’s life and the dynamics in general between a man and a woman. There are the obvious monthly occurrences, such as premenstrual syndrome and menstruation itself, but more is being learned about how other aspects of the cycle influence feelings and behavior, and how all of these influences can actually impact relationships.

Posted in: Men and Family Planning, Natural Birth Control, CycleBeads

A new study shows that young women who aren’t trying to get pregnant are more than twice as likely to use birth control when their partners are "very" in favor of it.

Posted in: Men and Family Planning, Research