Social media and advertising natural contraception to young women: the case for clarity and transparency with reference to the example of ‘Natural Cycles

If you are a young female in the UK that uses social media (as 96% of 16–24-year-olds do),1 you may have come across an advert for Natural Cycles since they began their media campaign in late 2016, when using platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Natural Cycles is a ‘natural contraception’ app that was created by a Swedish particle physicist and her partner. For £39.99 per year, users log their body temperature each morning, and occasionally other details, such as their menstruation, and an algorithm determines their fertile days (during which the user would need to use barrier contraception or avoid sexual intercourse). It has been approved as a medical device for contraceptive purposes in Europe.2

The most recent study of the app was funded and primarily run by Natural Cycles. The study was a prospective observational study of 22 785 users who were mostly Swedish and…

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