How natural fertility tracking is causing more women to seek abortions
As more and more women become concerned about the side effects of the contraceptive pill, natural methods of cycle tracking have become more popular.
Some even claim that cycle tracking and fertility awareness can be effective for contraception, with the basic idea being that you avoid sex or use non-hormonal contraception on your fertile days and have unprotected sex the rest of the month.
While it's true that the egg can only be fertilised for a few days around ovulation, uninformed cycle tracking has now been blamed for a high rise in unexpected pregnancies and abortions.
A new study, published in the British Medical Journal, says that significantly fewer abortion patients report using effective methods of contraception around conception while also reporting an increased use of fertility awareness-based methods.
However, some experts have warned that the study might not show the full picture of contraceptive use and risk.
The study
Contraception users appear to be increasingly hesitant to use hormonal methods, say researchers, with some data suggesting that younger women are turning towards more ‘natural’ methods of contraception, including withdrawal and the use of period-tracking apps.
At the same time, statistics suggest there's an increase in abortion rates across all ethnicities, levels of deprivation and age groups. While the reasons for this are likely multifactorial, greater use of less effective methods could lead to a higher rate of unintended pregnancy and abortion.
The researchers wanted to see if this theory was correct, so they looked at data from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), an independent healthcare charity that provides medical and surgical abortion, showing the type of contraception used an conception among those seeking termination.
They compared contraception use between 2018 and 2023.
The results
BPAS treated 33,495 patients in 2018 and 55,055 patients in 2023.
The number of patients using no contraception at the time of conception increased by 14%, from 55.8% to 69.6%. The number of patients using fertility-awareness methods, involving learning how to identify your fertile days using indicators such as waking temperature, cervical fluid and cycle length, increased from 0.4% to 2.5%.
Meanwhile, the amount of people using hormonal contraceptive methods decreased from 18.8% in 2018 to 11.3% in 2023, as did the use of long-acting reversible contraceptives (like the coil or implant) from 3% to 0.6%.
What this means for us
Researchers say that they found a significant decline in contraception and an increase in fertility-awareness methods. However, the biggest and most interesting rise by far was in the number of individuals reporting no method of contraception at time of conception.
No contraception is different from fertility awareness-based contraceptive methods. The latter involves specific symptom tracking, such as temperature and cervical fluid, while no contraception involves paying no attention to your fertile window or pregnancy risk.
Not all fertility-awareness methods are classed as contraception, either. This is an issue with this study, as all fertility awareness-methods have been lumped together. There is only one FDA and EU-approved fertility-awareness method for contraception, Natural Cycles. This digital medical device involves taking daily temperature measurements to predict your fertile window and is 98% effective with perfect use.
Other cycle-tracking methods, including marking your calendar as well as apps like Flo and Clue, can be useful for highlighting your risk of pregnancy but are not intended for use as a contraceptive.
'Fertility tracking apps and the various fertility-awareness methods should not all be grouped together as they have been in [this] study (a limitation the researchers note),' experts from The Lowdown, the contraceptive education platform, shared on Instagram.
'There is a difference in women using more traditional "pen and paper methods", the digital contraceptive Natural Cycles and non-medical device fertility tracking apps.
'Most importantly, the huge rise in women using no contraception at all should be the headline of the study and coverage. From looking at the study data, there was an increase in people using fertility awareness-based methods from 0.4% to 2.5%, so that’s an additional 1,235 women.
'But by far the biggest increase in real terms was of those women using no method at all which was 19,633 more, an increase of around 14%. The paper discussion focuses on the increase in use of fertility awareness-based methods but skims over the fact the biggest change has been in people ditching contraception completely.'
The bottom line
There are a few takeaways from this. Firstly, there's a large rise in people using no contraception, which is an understandable but concerning shift, especially with regards to unwanted pregnancy and abortion.
Secondly, women are unsatisfied with hormonal contraception and a lack of better options means they are making riskier decisions.
Thirdly, fertility awareness isn't a perfect measure of ovulation and shouldn't be used as contraception unless used perfectly with approved methods.
If you're worried about your pregnancy risk or hormonal contraceptives, talk to your GP or visit The Lowdown to get more information on safe, alternative methods.
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