Am I Ovulating? Other Devices

Detecting and predicting your own body's ovulation cycle is key to enhancing your fertility. The "window of opportunity" for conception is much shorter than many people realize; therefore, advance preparation is needed to make the most of that brief time. In addition to natural fertility enhancement methods, mechanical devices are available to help you be prepared.

By mechanical, we mean devices that are not part of the human anatomy. This can include computer programs, battery-powered machines, or urine tests (OPKs). Continuing our discussion on mechanical methods, we will address the market of software programs and machines.

For women with daily, private computer access (and a color monitor really helps), ovulation prediction software provides a more convenient way of monitoring the reproductive cycle with the built-in ability of maintaining a clutter-free record. LifeCycle Fertility Predictor demonstrates through screenshots how it displays information on screens entitled "Calendar", "Symptoms", "Chart", and "Pregnancy Forecaster". Fertility Friend Online, one of several conception/pregnancy services offered to Internet visitors, offers a free one month trial.

Apparently less well-known are the variety of hand-held devices that use a phenomenon known as "ferning" to predict ovulation. Beginning with Papanicolau in the 1940s, researchers have been observing and studying through microscopes this cyclical change in cervical mucus and saliva. European studies indicate success rates (measured as ability to use ferning to predict ovulation) varying from the mid to high 90th percentile. Generally, conclusions have been drawn that the ferning event begins on average about seven days before the first day of basal body temp rise, and specifically, salivary ferning can be observed one to two days prior to the onset of wet (more conducive to conception) cervical fluid.

The devices being marketed currently rely on microscopic lenses to enable a woman to view the ferning effect of her own saliva or cervical mucus. Some, like the PFT1-2-3 require only external light, such as a lamp or the sun, to use their viewer. Others, such as the Ovu-Tec may require batteries. This page from Around the Moon, Inc. demonstrates the appearance of the ferning effect using their product, Woman's Window.

These machines claim that their primary benefit is the ability to do repeated in-home testing with minimal purchases by the consumer. However, this writer received no responses from a major online bulletin board when inquiring about others' use of these types of products, so it is difficult to gauge the actual popularity of hand-held devices. One reproductive endocrinologist, Randall C. Dunn, M.D., described ferning-detection devices as "similar to the rhythm method", perhaps best used by women who have had no conception difficulties and are seeking regular family-planning. Dr. Dunn stated that while saliva and mucus changes may be observable, the range of time for conception can be more narrowly focused by OPKs than by ferning-detection.