The Lowdown’s January Newsletter

Hi everyone, Alice from The Lowdown here 👋

This month we’ve been dealing with the fall out from that BMJ study on fertility tracking apps. For anyone who missed it; research, comparing data from British Pregnancy Advisory Service between 2018 and 2023, showed that women seeking an abortion who weren’t using a contraceptive method, increased from 56% (18,703 women) to 70% (38,336 women). 

However the study, and its wave of viral media coverage, mainly focussed on the fact that the use of Fertility Awareness Based Methods (FABMs) including ‘fertility tracking apps’ had increased from 0.4% (129 women) to 2.5% (1,364 women) among women seeking abortions. The study doesn’t prove a causal link between the rise of these fertility based methods and the increase in abortion rates, but unfortunately most of the media coverage misreported this.

The study also doesn’t differentiate between different types of FABMs used, and includes women using ‘fertility tracking apps’ like Flo, which just track period cycle data, and are not designed, regulated or marketed to be used as a method of contraception. My full thoughts in Huffpost here. 

Given the news, we’re pleased that this month our newsletter is sponsored by Natural Cycles – the only digital ‘fertility tracking app’ that is certified as a contraceptive method. Read on for more info 👇 

Not using contraception? Try Natural Cycles for free to see if it’s right for you

Fed up with being relentlessly trashed by the UK media, Natural Cycles founder Dr Elina Berglund has spoken out and launched a new campaign to help improve healthcare outcomes for women, and address gaps in education about FABMs and the use of Natural Cycles as a digital contraceptive tool across the UK. 

For anyone in the UK not using contraception or using a less effective method, Natural Cycles are offering access to their birth control app for 3 months at no cost, so that you can see firsthand how it works and if it is a fit for you.

‘Women should never have to rely on uncertified period-tracking apps as a form of birth control. However, the numbers from the study, combined with our own growth data, make it clear that this is exactly what’s happening,’ said Dr. Berglund. ‘Our goal is to provide women in the UK using these unregulated methods with immediate access to an effective, certified contraceptive method while launching the rest of our initiative to improve women’s health education and access across the nation.’

Natural Cycles is not for everyone – but if you’re interested, you can read our article on how it works. A heads up, that after the trial, the price will go up to £69.99 per year or £9.99 per month.

Reminder: Please don’t do work for free, especially on International Women’s Day

This is slightly off the topic of women’s health, but given that equality is something we’re all very passionate about here at The Lowdown…Last week, I was contacted by a $200 billion+ revenue software company asking me to come to their office outside London to do an International Women’s Day talk on equality and career opportunities. When I checked if they were willing to pay travel and speaker fees, they said they didn’t have any budget.

My LinkedIn post about this has gone viral. And I’ve had so many messages from women asking me how to get paid or negotiate getting paid for their time. No one ever teaches you this stuff, and in my experience women (including me) are much worse at it. 

This got me thinking… is there something we could do at The Lowdown to help? If you’re interested, or have questions on this topic, please tell me below!

Women’s health hubs… have you used one?

You may have seen the recent news about Wes Streeting ‘scrapping’ the plan for women’s health hubs. The iniative, launched in 2023 pledged just £25 million (about £500k per NHS region), and aimed to provide services like mammograms, smears, contraception, and gynaecological care. all available through one joined up service.

While it sounded promising, very few physical hubs have actually been set up – most are ‘virtual.’ Expensive user research found the term ‘hub’ misled many women to expect a physical center offering multiple services under one roof. You think?! Meanwhile, we know from speaking to those within the NHS that some areas have used the funding on ‘training’ or cut the budget altogether.

I’ve never actually heard from a woman who’s used a hub before… So have you actually used a women’s health hub? Did it make a difference? We’d love to hear your experience!

In the news…📰🌍

🥛 Contraception experts at the FSRH have changed the guidance on whether you need to ‘pump and dump’ if using the morning after pill ellaOne whilst breastfeeding. Previously, you were advised to not breastfeed for seven days after taking ellaOne, but new research has shown that a negligible amount of the drug is found in breastmilk. Recap on the morning after pill and breastfeeding here.

🚀 NASA researchers have found that we tend to underestimate how tired women are vs. men.  Researchers for the US space agency found that women who felt drained still tended to make an ­effort to be sociable — something that men were much less likely to do. 

🧪 In endometriosis, we’re all waiting for a simple blood test that can be used for diagnosis, instead of laparoscopic surgery. Scientists in Australia have announced their breakthrough PromarkerEndo blood test can diagnose all stages of endometriosis with a high degree of accuracy.

Review of the month

Post of the month 🇺🇸

Monday 20th was a Blue Monday, indeed.

That’s all for this month, as always I love hearing your feedback on anything we write about, so please just hit reply to this email – I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks,