More than half a million women around the world, including an estimated 50,000 in the United States, use natural family planning methods developed by Georgetown University Medical Center’s Institute for Reproductive Health.
Many of these women and thousands of others use CycleBeads, a visual aid developed by the Institute to help women manage their fertility to plan or prevent pregnancy.
Now CycleBeads are available in a deluxe version in three colors. “There is a growing interest in the United States in effective, easy-to-use natural family planning. We’re pleased that the manufacturer is making this new version available, as it may appeal to more women,” said Victoria Jennings, Ph.D, director of the Institute for Reproductive Health and co-developer of CycleBeads.
According to Leslie Heyer, President of Cycle Technologies, the company that manufactures and distributes CycleBeads under license from Georgetown University, deluxe CycleBeads are a response to consumer demand. “We heard from many women that they wanted something more attractive that they could carry with them or leave out on their nightstands. They also wanted options in terms of the colors.”
Like the classic CycleBeads, the deluxe version is a string of 32 color-coded beads which identifies the 12-day "fertile window" of a woman's menstrual cycle. A reddish bead marks the first day of a woman’s cycle, the colored beads represent days when pregnancy is unlikely, and the white beads represent days when pregnancy is likely. A black marker is used to track the days.