10 REASONS TO INTEGRATE CYCLEBEADS® INTO FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS
CycleBeads® helps women and couples use the Standard Days Method®, a highly-effective, inexpensive and modern family planning method.
Developed by Georgetown University's Institute for Reproductive Health, CycleBeads helps women plan or prevent pregnancy by tracking their menstrual cycles and identifying their fertile days.
FAMILY PLANNING METHODS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO WOMEN ARE NOT MEETING ALL OF THEIR NEEDS.
-
214 MILLION women GLOBALLY want to avoid pregnancy but are not using a modern method of family planning.
-
EVERY YEAR more than 85 MILLION unplanned pregnancies occur worldwide.
-
1 in 4 WOMEN in sub-Saharan Africa do not want to become pregnant in the next 2 years but are not using a modern method.
CYCLEBEADS ADDRESSES WOMEN'S TOP CONCERNS
ABOUT FAMILY PLANNING
Side Effects / Health Concerns
Most women who choose CycleBeads do so because it is side-effect-free. CycleBeads has no negative health consequences.
Partner Opposition
CycleBeads encourages men and women to talk about family planning. The method overcomes many religious and cultural concerns about family planning.
Infrequent Intercourse
CycleBeads identifies when a woman is fertile so she can avoid unprotected intercourse on those days. It helps facilitate negotiation of condom use with partners.
It made me sad that in my community couples have more than eight children and women are like machines that produce children. After being completely convinced about SDM's effectiveness, I started informing other women in my community about it. I found that this method would suit many couples because it would not interfere in any way with our religious beliefs as women do not have to ingest or insert anything.
Zarina Community Health Worker, India
CYCLEBEADS IS EFFECTIVE.
When used correctly and consistently – and most users do so – this method is 95% effective. In typical use it is 88% effective. See contraceptive failure rates of user-directed methods in the table below.
ADDING CYCLEBEADS TO THE METHOD MIX EXPANDS CHOICE, INCREASES CONTRACEPTIVE PREVALENCE, AND REDUCES UNMET NEED.
More choice = more likely to find a method. Adding a new method like CycleBeads to the existing method mix can raise contraceptive prevalence.
-
India from 24% to 41%*
-
El Salvador from 45% to 58%*
* Contraceptive Prevalence Rate in India increased from 24% to 41% over a 4-year period during a community-based reproductive health pilot project in Uttar Pradesh.
* Contraceptive Prevalence Rate in El Salvador increased from 45% to 58% over a 2-year project during a pilot program aimed at involving men by integrating family planning into water and sanitization activities.
CYCLEBEADS BRINGS NEW USERS TO FAMILY PLANNING.
This graph demonstrates previous method use by clients who chose the Standard Days Method (CycleBeads) after it was integrated into programs in India, Peru, and Rwanda. The majority of CycleBeads users were new to modern family planning use.
CycleBeads does not "siphon off" users of other modern methods. The vast majority of CycleBeads users are those who have never used family planning before.
Some initial CycleBeads users eventually switch to other modern methods, suggesting that offering CycleBeads opens the door to family planning for many women. In addition, CycleBeads has brought back to family planning women who have dropped out of using other modern methods due to side effects.
CYCLEBEADS IS EASY AND INEXPENSIVE TO INTEGRATE INTO PROGRAMS.
Cost of family planning method per user for the first year of use. (see graph)
Studies in Guatemala, India, and Rwanda found that CycleBeads was more cost effective than other birth-spacing methods, including condoms and oral contraceptives. It is easy to train providers to offer CycleBeads whether at a facility or within the community. It takes as little as two hours to learn it and be able to instruct others.
Time needed to counsel users (e.g., how to manage the fertile period) is equivalent to other methods. It is an inexpensive, low-maintenance addition to family planning programs. Once a client has a set of CycleBeads, there is no need for re-supply. In fact, there is no need for clients to return for follow-up unless they choose to do so. CycleBeads are inexpensive and available through the USAID, UNFPA, and directly from the manufacturer - Cycle Technologies.
CYCLEBEADS HELPS BRING NEW PARTNERS TO
THE FAMILY PLANNING FIELD.
MOTHER'S AND WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS
WATER, SANITIZATION, AND HYGIENE GROUPS
FAITH GROUPS
AGRICULTURE CO-OPS
VILLAGE SAVINGS
AND LOANS
LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS
There is an array of community organizations and faith-based institutions that are educating women and couples about family planning by offering CycleBeads to their constituencies. Even community groups outside the health sector can offer SDM while referring for other methods.
While the majority of women who use CycleBeads throughout the world do not choose it primarily based on religious reasons, Catholic, Muslim and Protestant organizations find that this method is an appropriate and simple way to discuss reproductive health and family planning. This opens the door for a transformation of community norms about family planning, even in conservative settings.
Social mobilization around CycleBeads in our area of influence helped to strengthen our cooperation with religious bodies. At first, they were unforthcoming about our family planning services, but now they often help us to mobilize the community, whenever needed.
Marie Community Health Worker, Rwanda
CYCLEBEADS IMPROVES ACCESS TO FAMILY PLANNING BY BEING AVAILABLE BEYOND THE HEALTH SYSTEM.
-
PHARMACIES
Studies show that pharmacy sales clerks can provide CycleBeads. Because there is less interaction than with a clinic-based provider, clients rely more on printed information received with their CycleBeads. However, they are just as able to understand how to use the method as women who received counseling from a family planning provider.
-
CYCLEBEADS APP
Women can also use this method through a free smartphone app. The CycleBeds app is the first smartphone app that enables a woman to plan or prevent pregnancy using this method. It is available on iPhone and Android. The app screens potential users, helps a woman track her cycles, tracks that her cycles stay in the appropriate range for use, and lets her know when her fertile days occur based on the method.
-
SOCIAL MARKETING
In partnership with PSI, CycleBeads® have successfully reached women in need of family planning through social marketing. Study results demonstrate the potential for selling CycleBeads through pharmacies and small shops in several countries across Africa.
Evidence confirms that CycleBeads can be a successful socially marketed product, and women are able to use the method correctly even when purchasing CycleBeads from a pharmacy. Innovative use of communication technologies such as mobile phones extends the reach of SDM even further.
CYCLEBEADS INVOLVES MEN IN FAMILY PLANNING AND IMPROVES CONDOM COUNSELING.
Improved Communication
CycleBeads can help women and men talk about the method. And even if they don't talk about it, CycleBeads are visual — the man can see when the woman is on a fertile day, and he understands what they need to do to avoid pregnancy.
Improved Cooperation
Research shows that couples who use CycleBeads have sex about the same number of times a month as other couples — they just have sex on the days outside the fertile window. Couples cope with fertile days in different ways. They can abstain from intercourse but find other ways to show affection, and some couples use barrier methods during those days.
Perspectives on Involving Men
"I feel good that my husband now understands how my body works. He pays attention to my suggestions and respects my wishes. For the first time he asks me if we can have intercourse. I am happy that he cares about me.” - Female User, India
Perspectives on Involving Men
"CycleBeads has helped us to become closer, understand each others' needs. Unlike earlier, we now discuss intimate things with each other & this has added pleasure to our otherwise monotonous sex life." - Male User, India
Because CycleBeads depends on couple cooperation it also engages men actively
in family planning—through outreach, counseling, and practice.
Offering CycleBeads encourages and offers programs an opportunity to make serious efforts to reach men with information and services and to incorporate gender issues into family planning counseling. Studies in multiple countries have demonstrated that men are interested in CycleBeads and participate in method use by purchasing condoms for use during the fertile days and helping their wives keep track of their fertile days. Both men and women report that communication between the couple improved as a result of using CycleBeads.
Introducing CycleBeads into family planning programs has even improved providers' ability to counsel on condom use. Research from India, for example, shows significant improvements in condom counseling after incorporating CycleBeads into public sector programs. Similarly, data from Guatemala show that once providers began offering condoms as part of CycleBeads instruction, they felt more comfortable offering them to all of their clients.
CYCLEBEADS CONTRIBUTES TO WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT.
Women's Empowerment Indicators Pre- and Post-CYCLEBEADS Introduction (India)
A community survey conducted in India after CycleBeads introduction yielded improvement in indicators of women's empowerment, as illustrated by the graphs.
User experience suggests that CycleBeads use is empowering for many women. They report that knowledge about their bodies and menstrual cycles and being able to prevent unwanted pregnancies has increased their self-confidence and their ability to care for their health. In many cases, this has made it possible for women to talk openly with their husbands about how to manage the fertile days to avoid pregnancy
In a study conducted in Guatemala, women reported a significant increase in the ability to care for their health, refuse sex and communicate with their partners after six months of CycleBeads use.
IS CYCLEBEADS REACHING THOSE WHO NEED IT?
Bias—usually rooted in misinformation—often means unfair criticism or dismissive attitudes toward a worthwhile innovation. This is true of fertility awareness-based methods of family planning, including CycleBeads. Although CycleBeds is increasingly included in programs and even scaled up in several countries, this innovative method has not reached its full potential to meet the needs of women and couples. Lack of accurate information and misapplied bias against fertility awareness-based methods continue to limit its availability.
IS CYCLEBEADS FOR EVERYONE?
No family planning method is right for all women and couples. That is why having a wide variety of methods permits clients to choose the method that works best for them. Women whose menstrual cycles are irregular (i.e. fall outside the range of 26-32 days), or couples who find it difficult to avoid unprotected intercourse during the fertile days should not use CycleBeads. For example, women whose partners are prone to excessive alcohol use or domestic violence should consider another method. Even with that proviso, CycleBeads is an excellent choice for the large number of women and couples who wish to avoid pregnancy by using a simple, inexpensive and natural method with no side effects.
HELP ENSURE WOMEN HAVE A FULL RANGE OF OPTIONS. THE FOLLOWING RESOURCES AND LINKS MAY HELP.
READY TO INTEGRATE CYCLEBEADS INTO YOUR FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAM?
LET US KNOW IF YOU NEED HELP. CONTACT US AT INFO@CYCLEBEADS.COM
CYCLEBEADS BULK PURCHASE
