Family

Can you trust your smartphone fertility app when trying to get pregnant?

A new study has found only a few fertility apps are reliable.

From banking to chasing Pokemon, smartphone apps have undoubtedly changed the way we live our lives. But new research suggests using phone apps to help get pregnant – or avoid it – could be highly unreliable.

A study of 95 smartphone fertility apps conducted out of Georgetown University Medical Center in the US found more than half don’t actually use evidence-based, scientific methods to generate their information. However, it should be noted that they also don’t claim to, which is a reminder to read the fine print.

Of the remaining 40 apps, the study found on six perfectly predicted the days a woman was fertile.

Those apps were Ovulation Mentor, Sympto, iCycleBeads, LilyPro, Lady Cycle and MyNFP.

Researchers involve are warning women against using fertility apps as a form of contraception, especially when there is little science involved.

“Smartphone apps are increasing in popularity because more and more women are interested in using natural or fertility awareness-based methods of family planning… They want to feel empowered with greater knowledge of their bodies,” says Marguerite Duane, a doctor who led the study.

“When learning how to track your fertility signs, we recommend that women first receive instruction from a trained educator and then look for an app that scored four or more on mean accuracy and authority in our review (which are the six apps listed above).”

Read the full list of evidence-based apps here.

WATCH: Tyra Banks breaks down over fertility struggles

Loading the player...

Related stories