Many women have made a dramatic change in their use of contraceptives of late.
By closely tracking a womans cycle and temperature, such apps designate unprotected sex safe or unsafe each day.
When unsafe, the use of barrier methods of protection is advised.
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These, of course, come alongside the ever present risk of unintended pregnancy through contraceptive failure.
Many women report side effects with the contraceptive pill, but often arent listened to.
Side effects are a common experience and are a major cause of women stopping using particular birth control methods.
Researchsuggests that health professionals seek to avoid mentioning issues they believe would cause undue concerns.
Theevidenceshows that some women who encounter difficulties sometimes struggle to get health professionals to remove their LARC.
Women are expected to put up with side effects rather than taking a bigger risk of unintended pregnancy.
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Culturally speaking, unintended pregnancies are usually frowned upon.
This is particularly the case for younger women and those in marginalized circumstances.
This denigration links to ideas about irresponsibility more generally.
Popular stereotypes of feckless families who have babies for benefits are commonplace, but are rarely accurate.
In the US for example, the idea of the welfare queen has been shownto be false.
In the UK, it isgovernment policyto limit the number of children claimants can receive benefits for.
This is despite the evidence that contraceptive failure is a significant reason forneeding abortion.
Failed contraceptives are a major cause of unwanted pregnancy.
This is not necessarily to access them medically, but so they can be advised to avoid future mistakes.
To date, the male pill still has not materialized, leaving men with few options.
Condoms are often not seen as proper contraception for ongoing relationships.
The protection they provide against sexually transmitted infections means that they are associated with casual partners.
Condoms tend not to be used by those in ongoing relationships.
It allows couples to take turns over contraceptive responsibility over time.
But many men do not seem to be thatkeen.
Its also important to remember that pregnancy carries some risks for women alone.
So its unsurprising that such apps are popular.
Avoiding the health difficulties that many women experience with other contraceptive methods is appealing.
But women are still waiting for better contraceptive solutions.
This article was originally published onThe ConversationbyPam Lowe, Senior Lecturer in Sociology.
