Washington, DC -- (SBWire) -- 02/22/2013 --The natural family planning tool CycleBeads® ranks comparably to other user-directed family planning methods in both Perfect Use and Typical Use according to the most comprehensive efficacy reports. In Perfect Use, CycleBeads is more than 95% effective at preventing pregnancy. Perfect Use is the efficacy of a family planning method experienced by women who state that they used the method correctly for one year. In Typical Use, CycleBeads is 88% effective at preventing pregnancy – second only to the Pill among user-directed methods which is 92% effective. Typical Use is the efficacy rate experienced by all women including those who did not use the method correctly. These efficacy rates are summarized in the most recent update of the reference guide Contraceptive Technology, 20th edition.

Cycle Technologies, the manufacturer and distributor of CycleBeads, attributes its high efficacy in part to its easy-to-use design, thereby ensuring that women use it correctly to prevent pregnancy.

“Many people are surprised to find out that a natural family planning method is so effective. What’s really exciting about the CycleBeads tools is that not only are they based on a highly effective family planning method, but they are also extremely easy to use. Meaning that in actual use, women are likely to use them correctly,” said Leslie Heyer, President of Cycle Technologies.

The family planning method is available both as the physical CycleBeads tool and also as an online service and smartphone apps. To use these tools, a woman enters the first date of her period and the tool identifies which days of her cycle she is likely to be fertile (days 8-19) as well as whether her cycles are in range for using this method (26-32 days long).

Most women who choose to use CycleBeads do so because it is a natural birth control option that causes no side effects. One user who wondered, “When am I fertile?” said the following,“ Finding CycleBeads has opened the world of natural contraceptives to me. I proudly hang my CycleBeads on my bedroom wall by the bed. They're pretty and my husband doesn't have to ask me all the time where I am fertility wise because he can see! Unlike 'the pill' or the like, which make you unfertile while using them, CycleBeads keep you aware of being fertile and you feel good about it.”

While most women use CycleBeads to prevent pregnancy, a significant number use this method to achieve pregnancy. Those women wanting to know, “When can I get pregnant?” have found the tools to be extremely easy to use. Many have been able to achieve pregnancy quickly using this method, suggesting that CycleBeads helps couples know when pregnancy is most likely and time intercourse accordingly.

About Cycle Technologies
Cycle Technologies’ mission is to bring to market products that help people live healthier lives. CycleBeads® and the CycleBeads apps are patented tools based on the Standard Days Method® of family planning and provide women with easy to use information that allows them to plan or prevent pregnancy naturally. As a fertility awareness-based family planning option, CycleBeads educates women about their cycles and helps them manage their fertility without chemicals or hormones. It fulfills an unmet need for a natural family planning method that is easy to use, inexpensive, side effect-free, and highly effective. Women all over the world use these simple tools to help them understand their cycles and easily identify the days when pregnancy is possible.

For more information, please visit http://www.cyclebeads.com/.