Show HN: Birth Control As A Service • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Birth Control As A Service

#21

Post by nsxwolf » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 2:56 PM UTC

MaxGabriel wrote: post #11

dbla wrote: post #6

I'm a little bit confused. The title mentions birth control but the website is talking mostly about fertility. Is this a tool to help women get pregnant or prevent pregnancy?

Apparently both. On this page http://www.readytogroove.com/app/ , it explains how you can learn which days you are or are not fertile. Is this really a reliable birth control method though?

This is Fertility Awareness / Natural Family Planning[1], branded in a way that will be more palatable to a secular Silicon Valley audience.

My wife and I use NFP. This is actually the slickest app I've ever seen.

It's pretty reliable if you want to use it for birth control, provided the woman has at least somewhat regular cycles. Even with irregular cycles, there's useful information that can be gleaned from cervical mucus and basal body temperature.

It's probably not for people who absolutely cannot tolerate one or two "surprise" children, but it will at least prevent you from becoming the Duggars if that's not your thing.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_family_planning

Re: Show HN: Birth Control As A Service

#22

Post by ntaso » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 2:56 PM UTC

jaldoretta wrote: post #14

MaxGabriel wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently both. On this page http://www.readytogroove.com/app/ , it explains how you can learn which days you are or are not fertile. Is this really a reliable birth control method though?

There haven't been a ton of studies done, but the ones that have been carried out all show a perfect-use effectiveness of over 99%. But that definitely depends on how careful users are.

The sympto-thermal method is researched since the 1950s by an Austrian gynecologist. There have been A TON of studies.

Re: Show HN: Birth Control As A Service

#23

Post by dsr_ » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 2:57 PM UTC

Q: What do you call a woman who depends on the rhythm method for birth control?

A: A mother.

As a tool to help you get pregnant, awesome, kudos, very well done.

Promoting it for birth control? Not very clever.

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/birth-control...

Re: Show HN: Birth Control As A Service

#24

Post by jaldoretta » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 2:58 PM UTC

ntaso wrote: post #15

Kudos to you, it's alway great so see people talking about natural birth control methods without mentioning God or religion in the same sentence. It's virtually impossible to find good resources about the sympto-thermal method in English without landing on a very Christian-oriented website. But I'm wondering: What's the business model you have? I'm asking, because I'm in the same space. Mostly in Germany, but I also…

Thanks! It's awesome to hear from another person in this space. We're still working out our business model (right now we're planning a subscription-based app to practice FAM/NFP, but that could change). But we have plans to add more features and perhaps another product. Hardware may also be in our future =)

Re: Show HN: Birth Control As A Service

#25

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 2:58 PM UTC

jaldoretta wrote: post #3

wehadfun wrote: post #2

Is there anyway boyfriends can get access to this?

We don't have that feature currently, but it's definitely a possibility!

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Birth Control As A Service

#26

Post by DanielStraight » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 2:58 PM UTC

ntaso wrote: post #15

Kudos to you, it's alway great so see people talking about natural birth control methods without mentioning God or religion in the same sentence. It's virtually impossible to find good resources about the sympto-thermal method in English without landing on a very Christian-oriented website. But I'm wondering: What's the business model you have? I'm asking, because I'm in the same space. Mostly in Germany, but I also…

I know several people who have used this book/site, and as far as I know, there are no religious connections:

http://tcoyf.com/

Re: Show HN: Birth Control As A Service

#27

Post by ntaso » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 2:59 PM UTC

nsxwolf wrote: post #21

MaxGabriel wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently both. On this page http://www.readytogroove.com/app/ , it explains how you can learn which days you are or are not fertile. Is this really a reliable birth control method though?

This is Fertility Awareness / Natural Family Planning[1], branded in a way that will be more palatable to a secular Silicon Valley audience. My wife and I use NFP. This is actually the slickest app I've ever seen. It's pretty reliable if you want to use it for birth control, provided the woman has at least somewhat regular cycles. Even with irregular cycles, there's useful information that can be gleaned from cervica…

Sorry to say so, but you're wrong about two things:

1. A women doesn't have to have a regular cycle for this method to be safe. Why? Because if the cycle is irregular, the cycle cannot be evaluated / charted and you have to assume fertility.

2. The method is as safe as the pill. The risk for getting "surprise children" is the same as with the pill.

Re: Show HN: Birth Control As A Service

#28

Post by nsxwolf » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 3:00 PM UTC

ntaso wrote: post #15

Kudos to you, it's alway great so see people talking about natural birth control methods without mentioning God or religion in the same sentence. It's virtually impossible to find good resources about the sympto-thermal method in English without landing on a very Christian-oriented website. But I'm wondering: What's the business model you have? I'm asking, because I'm in the same space. Mostly in Germany, but I also…

You can't find secular versions of NFP because the hormonal birth control and sterilization industry created what they felt was the perfect no muss, no fuss solution, and couldn't imagine why anyone but the "religious crazies" could possibly want an alternative to it.

You can thank the religious people for continuing to develop the science over the decades when the world went absolutely bananas for the pill.

Re: Show HN: Birth Control As A Service

#29

Post by jaldoretta » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 3:01 PM UTC

dsr_ wrote: post #23

Q: What do you call a woman who depends on the rhythm method for birth control? A: A mother. As a tool to help you get pregnant, awesome, kudos, very well done. Promoting it for birth control? Not very clever. http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/birth-control...

It's a common misconception that the method our app relies on is the same as the rhythm method, which it is NOT. The rhythm method predicts fertility based on cycle length, which is a really BAD idea. The sympto-thermal method pinpoints the fertile window using scientifically-backed signs of fertility.

Planned Parenthood lists an effectiveness of 99.6% (see the "What is the Sympto-thermal Method" section: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/birth-control...

Re: Show HN: Birth Control As A Service

#30

Post by jaldoretta » Tue, Mar 18, 2014, 3:02 PM UTC

DanielStraight wrote: post #26

ntaso wrote: post #15

Kudos to you, it's alway great so see people talking about natural birth control methods without mentioning God or religion in the same sentence. It's virtually impossible to find good resources about the sympto-thermal method in English without landing on a very Christian-oriented website. But I'm wondering: What's the business model you have? I'm asking, because I'm in the same space. Mostly in Germany, but I also…

I know several people who have used this book/site, and as far as I know, there are no religious connections: http://tcoyf.com/

That book is actually how I first learned, and it's an awesome read.