If you’ve been using a fertility app to increase your chances of conceiving, it might be time to go back to traditional methods of identifying your fertile window.
As downloadable period trackers grow ever more popular, a US study reveals that most of them are offering bad advice.
We all know that a woman’s most fertile days are generally her ovulation date and the five days that precede it.
According to the Weill Cornell Medicine and New York Presbyterian Hospital research however, of the 53 top websites and apps analysed, only four were able to accurately predict a woman’s fertile days.
Given that an egg only survives for less than 24 hours to be fertilised, the miscalculation could have serious implications for couples who are trying to get pregnant.
“This all may lead to patients having intercourse in patterns that will not maximise their chances of conceiving,” the research team noted.
Just one website was able to correctly predict a woman’s fertile window and that was babymed.com. The only apps to give a correct estimate were iPeriod, Clue and My Days.
“Doctors I work with were really surprised,” lead author Dr. Robert Setton told Time.
“We all assumed that these are fine and probably accurate, because how could you mess something like this up? It’s so simple.”
Did you rely on a fertility app while trying to conceive? Which one did you use? Let us know on Twitter @HerFamilydotie.
