The number of abortions by women using ‘fertility apps’ popularized on social media has increased tenfold in five years

The number of women requesting an abortion after using fertility apps has increased tenfold in five years.

About 2.5 percent of terminations occurred among women who relied on “fertility awareness-based methods” in the first six months of last year.

That’s compared to 0.4 percent in the same period of 2018, according to an analysis of figures from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).

The rise comes amid an increase in the use of apps that track menstrual cycles or ovulation symptoms to estimate a woman’s fertile window so they can avoid sex and then prevent pregnancy.

These apps, which experts warn are ‘less reliable’, have been popularized on social media amid a rise in hormone hesitancy – skepticism surrounding contraceptives such as the pill because of their potential side effects.

Not using contraception remains the biggest cause of unwanted pregnancies, increasing from 55.8 percent to 69.6 percent between 2018 and 2023, according to the analysis.

But experts say the findings indicate a trend in women moving away from ‘more reliable’ hormonal contraceptives such as the pill to ‘fertility awareness-based methods’.

Difficulties in obtaining GP appointments may also be to blame, researchers suggest. Official figures show record levels of abortions: 251,377 performed in England and Wales in 2022, a 17 percent increase on the previous year.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh used BPAS data to compare January to June 2018 with the same period in 2023, involving 33,495 and 55,055 women respectively.

They found that the reported use of fertility awareness-based methods by women seeking abortions increased from 129 in the 2018 data to 1,364 in 2023.

The age of the women who used these methods also fell from almost 30 to 27 years, the analysis showed. The number of women using hormonal contraceptives such as the pill, the minipill, patches and vaginal rings fell from almost 19 percent in 2018 to 11 percent in 2023.

The use of the contraceptive implant also fell from 3 to 0.6 percent in the same period.

Those who reported not using any form of contraception when they became pregnant increased from 56 in 2018 to 70 percent in 2023.

Researchers said the findings show a “shift in contraceptive use from more reliable hormonal contraceptive methods to less reliable fertility awareness-based contraceptive methods among abortion patients.”

They wrote in BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health: ‘Although the increase in abortion rates is multifactorial, one aspect that needs to be closely examined is any change in the use of contraceptives, and in particular this increase in the use of e-health, including fertility apps and menstruation tracking apps. and natural family planning apps.

‘The possible relationship between these less effective contraceptive methods and unplanned pregnancy requires further research.

‘However, there is a need to educate the public about the efficacy of such methods to facilitate informed contraceptive choices.’

Those who reported not using any form of contraception when they became pregnant increased from 56 in 2018 to 70 percent in 2023 (file photo)

They added: ‘There appears to have been a significant increase in the number of individuals attending BPAS for abortion who are using fertility awareness-based methods as a form of contraception and not using a contraceptive method.

‘This may be a result of preference or it may be related to problems with access to more effective contraceptive methods in the preconception and post-abortion periods.’

They suggested that hormone hesitancy, attributed to the influence of social media, has been reported in other European countries and could be happening in Britain.

Dr. Patricia Lohr from BPAS suggested that problems getting a GP appointment could also be to blame, with almost half of women reporting barriers to accessing contraceptives, such as long waits for appointments.

She said: ‘This study of abortion patients showed an increase in the use of fertility awareness-based methods and a decrease in hormonal contraception. “This may indicate that women are making different contraceptive choices or are not able to get the methods they want.”

Bekki Burbidge, from the Family Planning Association, said: ‘There certainly seems to have been greater interest in fertility awareness-based contraceptive methods in recent years.

‘This is likely for a number of reasons, including a lack of access to other methods, a shift towards non-hormonal methods with fewer potential side effects, and the wider availability of fertility awareness apps. ‘