Pregnancy in 12 months or your money back

Sometimes when I read about products related to pregnancy or fertility (after picking my jaw up from the floor) I seriously fear for the future.

Cambridge Temperature Concepts, a British manufacturer, is now offering women a MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE if their new product, Duo Fertility, (£495) does not result in a pregnancy after 12 months.

That's right. If you don't get knocked up, you get your money back.

So what is Duo Fertility? Well! Just when you thought conception couldn't get any more un-sexy or more complication, this 'intelligent' fertility monitor measures your basal body temperature with such accuracy it can predict your ovulation up to six days in advance. According to the manufacturer:

"The sensor automatically measures and records your skin temperature, taking approximately 20,000 temperature measurements while you sleep (compared to just one measurement per day by most competing products). This allows easy detection of the upward shift in basal body temperature which is associated with ovulation."

Um, sounds comfortable. But here's the kicker:

"Data is transferred from the sensor to the DuoFertility reader wirelessly. You will then be able to see a simple display of your fertility status over the next six days on your reader, giving you plenty of time to plan a romantic evening in! You can consult the reader at your convenience - there is no need to have it with you all the time, and you don't have to use it at any particular time of the day or week."

Now, I know for couples dealing with infertility, planning and monitoring fertility is a part of daily life that most people don't even think about. BUT it REALLY ANNOYS ME that the manufacturer is GUARANTEEING a pregnancy. On the surface this totally implausible offer has the potential to lead many women, already suffering debilitating anxiety over their inability to become pregnant, to believe that if they simply monitor their fertility with this device they will magically become pregnant. If you actually read the fine print in the terms and conditions of the offer it says:

"There may be medical reasons (such as lack of ovulation) which will prevent our Products from assisting you becoming pregnant, but with which the product may assist in diagnosis."

What annoys me even more is that the company sells the product with the added bonus of free, ongoing consultation with fertility specialists. In reality, the company totally absolves themselves of responsibility:

"The consultancy services are for information purposes only, and are not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please contact your doctor before using any Product(s), particularly if you are already under medical care. Always check with your doctor if you have any concerns about your condition or treatment. We are not responsible or liable, directly or indirectly for any form of damages whatsoever resulting from the use, misuse or reliance on information contained in or implied by the information provided to you during such consultancy."

What about the psychological trauma that results from using a device with the hope that you will get pregnant and then potentially ending up with no baby after 12 months of use?

ANNOYING.

Pre-conception care: useful or a crock?

In an interesting study recently published in the British Medical Journal, it seems that women of childbearing age in the UK (20-34 years old) are less likely to follow pre-pregnancy recommendations such as decreasing the consumption of alcohol, taking folic acid supplements and quitting smoking. Of the 12, 445 women in the study, only 2.9% were taking folic acid supplements and having fewer than 4 drinks per week three month before conception. The authors of the study pin this down to young women being less inclined to want to change their pre-pregnancy lifestyles. The authors also suggest that public health messages about pre-conception care are not getting to women. I wonder if it's really just a lack of appropriate communication of public health messages or if women are just actively resisting the overly prescriptive rules and regulations surrounding pregnancy (from pre-conception to post-birth). Increasingly, women are being told to treat their bodies as if they could be pregnant at any time and I think this fits in nicely with all of the moral panics about motherhood and fertility for young women in their 20s.

I'm interested as to whether any of you following pre-conception care closely or if you think it's all a load of bollocks?

Source: British Medical Journal, Online First, February 13, 2009.

Text messages tell you when to get it on

For the busy professional trying to get pregnant, a new service from the folks at BabyCenter is arguably the most disturbing reminder of not only how technologised pre-conception, pregnancy and birth have become but also provides me with great pleasure in not having succumbed to the powers of a Blackberry.

Called Booty Caller, using information about your ovulation cycle, the service texts you when the time is right to make babies (3 texts per menstrual cycle). Sample messages include:

• "Your fertile window starts in 1 week. Find out if your chances of getting pregnant are better in the morning."

• "Your fertile window opens today and lasts 5 more days. Stress can get in the way of conception so relax and get a massage, meditate, or take a yoga class."

• "Today is your last fertile day! If you get pregnant during this cycle, your due date will be on or around 6.25.2009.”

Hmm, while the service ostensibly is providing 'helpful advice', it's hard not to think that such a service also serves as a pretty horrible reminder that if you don't get pregnant by the last text message, you have 'failed' at your mission.

Forget about 'Today is your last fertile day', why not just say 'You're 41. Are you kidding yourself?'

Besides, couples trying to get pregnant often complain that sex becomes like a chore when baby-making becomes the single-minded obsession of a woman who can hear her 'biological clock' ticking in the background. It's bad enough that most surveys say that sex dries up in many marriages without the added burden of trying to get pregnant. Why add a text message to an already stressful situation?

Sources:
http://www.babycenter.com/ovulation-mobile-alerts
http://gizmodo.com/5105359/the-booty-caller-texts-you-when-to-make-babies
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008579446_textappeal01.html