News/Blog

Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are changing people’s lifestyles at a rapid pace, including how they manage their health care.  Health care providers and patients are increasingly communicating via mobile technology and many doctors are actually prescribing health apps to their patients for everything from pill reminders to managing their diabetes to using a family planning method (hello CycleBeads!).The development and adoption of health apps has exploded in a short time, and continues to grow with thousands of medical apps available for mobile devices.  Experts forecast that mobile health (or mHealth as the industry is becoming known) is going to change how healthcare is delivered and managed over the next few years.

Posted in: mHealth, Technology, Birth Control Options, CycleBeads, Education

We were thrilled to see a review of the iCycleBeads Online service on the Monster Mummies blog by a woman named Michelle. As Michelle says, she and her husband are planning to get pregnant soon and so she has transitioned off of hormonal contraception to make sure her cycles are regular. They are using iCycleBeads Online to initially prevent pregnancy, but plan to start using it to get pregnant in the near future. Her favorite things about iCycleBeads Online?

• "it is actually really simple to understand when you see it."
• "I could log on anywhere (even at work!) to see where I was with my cycle."
• "emails let me know when there is a change in my cycle, very helpful for busy and forgetful people!"
• "it takes the worry and stress of remembering to record everything and gives you one place to record it all online."

Thanks Michelle! We appreciate your feedback.

Want to share your experience with us? Email us at customerservice@cyclebeads.com.

Posted in: mHealth, Technology

It seems there are a million fertility apps out there. Want to get a daily reminder to take your birth control pill? Want to get pregnant? Want to have a girl? Want to know what your baby will look like at week 8?  Want to know if your period is likely to come this weekend?

There's an app for that.

So how are iCycleBeads™ family planning apps different from other so-called "fertility apps"?

Posted in: Birth Control Options, mHealth, Technology, CycleBeads, Natural Birth Control

We are thrilled to be launching iCycleBeads™ Online and our redesigned website! iCycleBeads Online is the only web app in the world based on the Standard Days Method® of family planning. A user receives a private internet account where she can easily track the days of her cycles, know if she is on a day when pregnancy is possible or not, determine that her cycles are in range and continue to be in range for using this natural family planning method effectively, and maintain her cycle history. To use iCycleBeads Online a woman tracks the date her period starts each month; she is not required to track other in-depth fertility symptoms for use.

Posted in: CycleBeads, Technology, Birth Control Options, mHealth, Fertility Awareness, Natural Birth Control

We’ve heard it all… Is this jewelry? Should I wear CycleBeads® around my neck? Are these rosary beads? And even a few responses that aren’t quite fit for print.

So why did we decide to use beads to help women use the Standard Days Method® of family planning?

Posted in: CycleBeads, mHealth, Natural Birth Control, Research, Technology

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

July 27, 2011 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Cycle Technologies launched iCycleBeads™ on the Android platform. iCycleBeads is the first application that enables a woman to plan or prevent pregnancy easily and effectively, entirely through information provided by her phone.  iCycleBeads is the only app based on the Standard Days Method®, a modern natural family planning method that:

Posted in: mHealth, Technology

iCycleBeads:  Family Planning iPhone Application Now Available in Spanish

March 24, 2011 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Cycle Technologies, announced today that iCycleBeads™, the first iPhone application that enables a woman to plan or prevent pregnancy easily and effectively, entirely through information provided by her iPhone device, is now available in Spanish.

Posted in: mHealth, Natural Birth Control, Fertility Awareness, Technology

Exciting research is being conducted by the Institute for Reproductive Health on offering the Standard Days Method™ of family planning through mobile phones. As an information-based, natural family planning method, the Standard Days Method is ideally suited for offering in this manner. The research and some of the lessons to date are described in an article on MobileActive.org called, "Family Planning through Mobile Phones: No Doctors Necessary".

Posted in: Fertility Awareness, mHealth, Natural Birth Control, Technology