You may experience an increased amount of red days for various reasons. We encourage you to read through each of the sections listed below to see if any of the scenarios apply to you.
Before you proceed with this, it is good to remember that the effectiveness of the algorithm is the most important attribute to prevent unintended pregnancies, which is why, for your own safety, red days are given if there is a chance – however small – that you may be fertile that day.
I just started using Natural Cycles
If you just got started with NC° Birth Control, it's normal to get more red days initially. It can take some time for the algorithm to get to know your unique cycle before it can give you more green days – this is why you will get more red days in your first 1-3 full cycles. Once ovulation is detected, you are more likely to start receiving more green days!
I have recently quit hormonal birth control
Our data shows that those who have previously taken hormonal contraception and are just starting with Natural Cycles experience more red days in the beginning. This is because it can take a while before your body starts ovulating again, and the first cycles are often irregular. Since the first ovulation can come at any time, you will receive red days until it happens.
Read more about starting Natural Cycles after hormonal birth control here.
My temperatures fluctuate
When your temperatures fluctuate, this means that they tend to increase and decrease a lot from one day to the next and don’ not follow a clear pattern. If your temperatures fluctuate, the algorithm will give you more red days since it’s more difficult to detect ovulation. To help our algorithm learn more about your cycle and find ovulation faster, please measure according to our guidelines and make sure to exclude your temperature if appropriate.
We encourage you to keep an eye on your graph and if you notice that your temperatures are fluctuating, please visit this link for more information on how to limit fluctuations.
I have irregular cycles
Some will experience more irregular cycles than others. Ovulation rarely occurs on the same day in every cycle, but for some, it varies a bit more than a couple of days. In some cycles, ovulation may not occur for various reasons; this is known as anovulatory cycles. Irregularities are especially common if you have recently given birth, are breastfeeding, or used hormonal birth control recently.
Read more about using the app with irregular cycles here.
How does the algorithm determine how many red days I get?
The number of red days that you receive in the beginning of your cycle depends on your historical data, such as when you usually ovulate (your average ovulation day), and how much this varies from cycle to cycle. This is to ensure that you get enough red days at the beginning of your cycle so that your fertile window is covered by red days.
Once your window of red days has started in a cycle, you will then continue to have red days until the algorithm is able to confirm that your ovulation has occurred and that your fertile window has passed. You can learn more about ovulation detection here.
If you ovulate towards the later end of your predicted ovulation window, you can expect more red days in that cycle. If you ovulate in the earlier part of your predicted ovulation window, you might get green days earlier than previously predicted. Remember to look at your fertility status daily, as predictions are always subject to change and are not to be used as a final result.