Garmin has teamed up with Natural Cycles to give select smartwatch users the ability to automatically upload their nightly skin temperature to be used in Natural Cycles fertility predictions. This integration means users no longer have to rely on an external thermometer or perform any kind of invasive early morning temperature readings to determine their daily fertility. The system only requires the user to wear their watch to sleep. This integration signifies a change in the wearable tech market. The Garmin and Natural Cycles integration shows that wearable technology companies now have taken interest in women’s reproductive health as a non-niche segment.
What the Integration Actually Does
This integration focuses on capturing skin temperature as a fertility signal. Hormonal fluctuations throughout the menstrual cycle have a measurable effect on body temperature. This temperature remains elevated during the luteal phase and drops again at the onset of menstruation. Natural Cycles’ algorithm has been built around interpreting these thermal patterns to determine which days in a user’s cycle are fertile and which are not.
How It Works With Garmin Devices
Users with a Garmin Watch from the fēnix 8 line or the Forerunner 570, 970, Venu 4, or Venu X1 models, will wear the device as they sleep. The watches will measure temperature on the surface of the skin for the duration of the user’s sleep. The next day, Natural Cycles will automatically receive that data and the app will provide the user with a daily fertility status of either a red day of fertility (suggesting protected sex or abstinence) or a green day of non-fertility.
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What Is Natural Cycles?
Natural Cycles was the first FDA-cleared birth control app- founded by Swedish particle physicists, Elina Berglund Scherwitzl and Raoul Scherwitzl. This clearance was based on three clinical studies and provided evidence that a combined total of over 20,000 participants (users) and a further prospective study of over 15,000 participants (users) had a high level of safety and efficacy. The app is available in the US, Europe, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Singapore and South Korea. There are more than 1.8 million users worldwide and it is distributed across 162 countries.
What Both Companies Said About the Integration
Both Garmin and Natural Cycles have spoken positively about the integration mentioning innovation and digitally transformation of women’s health:
Garmin
“Women all over the world utilise Garmin products for activity and health tracking, which is why this integration with Natural Cycles, a pioneer in women’s digital health, is so important. As we continue to help women meet their fitness and wellness goals, we are proud that Garmin skin temperature can be used within the Natural Cycles app for those looking for a non-hormonal approach to birth control.” – Susan Lyman, the Vice President of Consumer Sales and Marketing at Garmin.
Natural Cycles
Co-founder Raoul Scherwitzl noted that the integration was in line with the vision of Natural Cycles to digitally transform women’s understanding of their reproductive health and in this case, was an example of what can be achieved by democratising access to personalised, algorithm-based health data.
