This Swedish Nuclear Physicist Invented the World’s First Approved Birth Control App

by Samantha Mercado

Thanks to Swedish nuclear physicist Elina Berglund, there is now an app that can replace your birth control. Berglund and her husband Raoul Scherwizl developed the app called Natural Cycles, together in 2015.

After some issues with the Swedish Medicinal Products Agency and some resulting bad press (not by fault of Natural Cycles) the app lost its buzz. But now- coming out of the controversy stronger- the app is the first of its kind. Clinically tested, it is an alternative to other birth control methods.

What the app does is ask for your temperature under your tongue in the morning and uses an algorithm to determine whether or not you are fertile that day. While not yet available in the U.S., the FDA is in the process of approving the App, Natural Cycles is used in 161 countries by over 150,000 users.

There’s no telling if and when the app will be approved for the U.S. but it is already changing the face of birth control- giving more access to women globally with the touch of a button.

Top photo via Flickr/Official Leweb Photos

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