When should I start using Natural Cycles after pregnancy?
You can get started with Natural Cycles at any point after pregnancy but you will only be given red days until your first ovulation is confirmed. The timing of your first ovulation post-birth can vary widely from person to person and often depends on if you’re breastfeeding or not.
Please note that your cycle may be irregular for a while after pregnancy and that you can expect more red days to be given in the beginning.
How can I inform the app that I have recently been pregnant?
If you are a first-time Natural Cycles user
When you set up your account, the app will ask you if you have been pregnant in the last 12 months and if you've gotten your period since.*
It is valuable for the algorithm to have the information that you have been pregnant recently, so make sure to answer ‘Yes’ to the question ‘Have you been pregnant during the past 12 months?’ whether your pregnancy went full term or ended in a miscarriage or abortion.
Note: If you’ve informed the app that you were recently on hormonal birth control, you will not be asked about a recent pregnancy. That is because the app is already aware that cycle irregularities are expected in your upcoming cycles due to quitting hormonal birth control. As a result, the algorithm will already know to give you a bigger safety margin of red days for your first few cycles of using NC° Birth Control. Knowing about a recent pregnancy is not needed in this case.
*If you recently signed up and need to re-answer your setup questions, you can do so by opening your app > tap the menu in the top left corner of the screen > My profile > Answer setup questions again.
If you have used Natural Cycles in the past but have not logged your pregnancy
You can log your pregnancy in the past by going to the Calendar view and following the steps below:
- Select the first day of your last period before the pregnancy > Edit > select Period > Save. Remember to log your period for the following days as well, depending on how long you bled. Skip this step if the last period before pregnancy was already logged.
- Select the day you had a positive pregnancy test > Edit > log a positive pregnancy test on that day (if you are in the NC° Birth Control mode, you will need to scroll down to Emergency Contraception & Tests) > Save.
- Select the day the pregnancy ended > Edit > log a negative pregnancy test > Save.
If you used Natural Cycles before the pregnancy and have logged it
You just need to inform the algorithm that the pregnancy ended.
You do this by going to your Settings and updating your mode to NC° Birth Control or NC° Plan Pregnancy (for further assistance on this, you can also look at this article).
If you need any help with logging your pregnancy, you can contact our Support Team here.
Will the algorithm take my pregnancy into account?
Yes, Natural Cycles will take your recent pregnancy into account. The algorithm will expect cycle irregularities in your first few cycles, and will therefore give you more red days (for NC° Birth Control) or brown days (for NC° Plan pregnancy).
Your long postpartum cycle will not be taken into account in your averages and predictions. This means that when you start a new cycle with a period entry and get back to measuring, the predictions will be based on your past completed cycles before the pregnancy.
How to measure with a newborn
We understand that it may be trickier to have a regular measuring routine while taking care of a newborn. If you are measuring with a basal thermometer, we recommend that you measure your temperature after the longest stretch of sleep you usually get during the night, regardless of when you wake up, and that you measure as soon as you wake up (before tending to your baby). Try to find a measuring routine that works for you and your family, and measure before moving around in bed.
Tip: If you’re struggling with measuring with a basal thermometer, know that you now have the option to use Natural Cycles with an Oura Ring or Apple Watch. When using a wearable device such as the Oura Ring or Apple Watch, your temperature data gets measured overnight while you sleep. This means that you no longer need to measure with your oral thermometer as soon as you wake up! Learn more about Natural Cycles powered by Oura here, and Natural Cycles powered by the Apple Watch here.
If the beep from the NC° Thermometer Gen1 disturbs your family, visit the following article with the instructions on how to turn off the beep and save your temperature in the NC° Thermometer Gen1.
The NC° Thermometer Gen3 is our third-generation thermometer, which syncs your temperature to the app via Bluetooth and has the option to turn off beeping entirely. Please note that at this time, the NC° Thermometer Gen3 is only available in the US.
The NC° Thermometer Gen2 is our second-generation thermometer, which has Bluetooth and has the option to turn off beeping entirely. Please note that the NC° Thermometer Gen2 is only available in the EU, UK, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Norway.
If you're breastfeeding, you can still use Natural Cycles. Visit this article for more information on using the app while breastfeeding.