Recently published research indicates that electronic resources used by the public to predict fertile windows are “generally inaccurate”. While they may help women to calculate their day of ovulation, we know that women are also fertile on the five days coming up to ovulation. This six –day period is called the fertile window and can vary from cycle to cycle if the woman has an irregular cycle.
Only one of 20 web sites and 3 of 33 apps studied were found to be accurate.
While these devices may help a woman track her cycle, it is important that women don’t rely on them. Please feel free to discuss this with oyur doctors at your appointment.
(Setton, Robert A., Christina H. Tierney, and Tony Tsai. “The Accuracy of Websites and Cellular Phone Applications in Predicting the Fertile Window [12G].” Obstetrics & Gynecology 127 (2016): 62S).
