The Oura smart ring is now compatible with Natural Cycles digital birth control, the companies announced today. The partnership allows Natural Cycles users to pull temperature information from their Oura Ring instead of manually recording a temperature for the app every morning.
Natural Cycles uses daily temperature readings and period tracking information to predict the days of the month when a person is least likely to get pregnant. Those daily temperature data originally came from a thermometer reading taken every morning. Last July, the company received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to use temperature data from wearables like the Oura.
A few months after Natural Cycles received FDA approval, Oura Ring announced it had added a period prediction feature to its Generation 3 smart ring. Oura was aware of Natural Cycle’s work with its product, although then-CEO Harpreet Rai told: The edge the two had no formal partnership.
Now the two companies are working together to integrate digital contraception. “Partnering with Natural Cycles is a natural match, as our research has shown that skin temperature data from the Oura Ring can detect significant temperature changes during the menstrual cycle,” said Holly Shelton, senior vice president of consumer products at Oura, in a statement.
Oura shares sleep data with Natural Cycles, including temperature trends, heart rate, sleep duration, and sleep stages. The Natural Cycles algorithm uses heart rate information to track whether someone has consumed alcohol or undergone other lifestyle changes that can affect body temperature. Natural Cycles does not share any information back with Oura, according to the statement.
Oura has other ongoing reproductive health research, including a partnership with the University of California San Diego to monitor physiological changes during pregnancy. Research shows that the ring can detect pregnancy before anyone could take a test.
“The partnership between Natural Cycles and Oura demonstrates the power of technology to enable women to better understand and control their fertility,” Shelton said.