CycleBeads®, a tool based on the natural family planning method, the Standard Days Method®, is distributed by Cycle Technologies and was recently examined in the Gates Foundation blog, Impatient Optimists.

Washington, DC -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/18/2013 -- CycleBeads®, a tool based on the natural family planning method, the Standard Days Method®, is distributed by Cycle Technologies and was recently examined in the Gates Foundation blog, Impatient Optimists. Featured in the blog's series, What's Your Method?, CycleBeads is described as a modern contraceptive method that helps address worldwide family planning needs.

The Gates Foundation, recognizing the need for a broad mix of contraceptives, invited a panel of industry experts to explain the range of family planning methods currently available and describe the benefits as well as challenges for making these methods accessible to women around the globe and in the developing world. Keeping An Open Mind: What the Evidence Tells Us About the Standard Days Method, written by Victoria Jennings, PhD and Elaine Murray, PhD, gives insight about this natural family planning method and reviews the evidence that shows it has the potential to significantly address unmet need for contraception.

The Standard Days Method is a highly effective fertility awareness-based method, but more importantly, data shows that women from a range of geographies, education and socioeconomic levels, want to use it, and are able to use it correctly. As a natural family planning method, it is particularly attractive to women and couples who want to avoid hormonal or surgical family planning methods. CycleBeads and the Standard Days Method have been found to bring new users to family planning and to address the key reasons that people site for not using contraception – specifically that they are concerned about side effects.

CycleBeads has been featured in many news articles and Cycle Technologies updates a blog with key information about this family planning product as well as newsworthy topics related to women's health, and natural family planning. Visit the blog for further information at: http://www.cyclebeads.com/blog.

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/.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Cycle Technologies recently updated the process for starting up with CycleBeads Online. New customers will have an easy time getting started with this web-based family planning service that assists a woman in preventing pregnancy or getting pregnant.

Washington, DC -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/18/2013 -- Cycle Technologies recently updated the process for starting up with CycleBeads Online. New customers will have an easy time getting started with this web-based family planning service that assists a woman in preventing pregnancy or getting pregnant.

Now a subscriber to CycleBeads Online answers three simple questions the first time she logs into her private account:

1) "What is your time zone?"
2) "Are you using this service to plan pregnancy, prevent pregnancy, track your cycle, or for educational purposes?"
3) "What date did your most recent period start?"

Once a subscriber has entered this information, she can begin using CycleBeads Online right away. There is no need to wait and track or chart prior to using this service.

"CycleBeads Online helps women use the Standard Days Method of family planning. This is an easy-to-use natural family planning option. We felt it was important for the start-up process to reflect this. It takes a woman less than a minute to get started," says Leslie Heyer, President of Cycle Technologies.

The CycleBeads Online service detects a user's time zone automatically, but a woman is asked to confirm that the time zone is correct to ensure that she receives email alerts regarding her key cycle days on the correct day and at the right time. Key cycle days include information about when her fertile days are starting, when her fertile days are ending, and when she is likely to get her next period.

A subscriber is also asked to indicate how she is using this family planning tool - to prevent pregnancy, to plan a pregnancy, to track her cycle, or as an educational tool. This information helps Cycle Technologies improve its service.

Finally, a subscriber is asked to enter the date her most recent period started. This information will be used to determine when her fertile and non-fertile days will occur according to the Standard Days Method of family planning.

On an ongoing basis, a subscriber will only need to enter the date her period starts each month. CycleBeads Online will calculate the day of the cycle that she is on, whether or not that is a day when pregnancy is possible, when her fertile and non-fertile days that cycle will be, let her know when her period is likely to come next, and ensure that her cycles are in the 26-32 day range required for effective use of the method. The web service will also send a subscriber emails on her key fertility days letting her know if her fertile days are about to begin, are ending, when she will get her next period, and reminding her to enter her period start date.

About Cycle Technologies
Cycle Technologies' mission is to bring to market products that help people live healthier lives. CycleBeads®, CycleBeads® Online, and iCycleBeads™ smartphone 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/.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

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/.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Cycle Technologies, manufacturer of the easy-to-use natural family planning tool, CycleBeads®, announces that this product is now available through AccessRH

Washington, DC -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/18/2013 -- Cycle Technologies, manufacturer of the easy-to-use natural family planning tool, CycleBeads®, announces that this product is now available through AccessRH, a procurement service managed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) . AccessRH is a family planning procurement and information service that aims to improve access to high-quality, affordable sexual and reproductive health commodities. Its clients are governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in low- and middle-income settings worldwide. The CycleBeads family planning tool is available in the recently updated 2013 AccessRH Catalog along with other reproductive health supplies at pre-negotiated, affordable prices.

Cycle Technologies is proud to have CycleBeads now included among the range of reproductive health commodities made available to over 140 countries through AccessRH.

"As a non-hormonal, easy, inexpensive, and effective family planning method, CycleBeads is highly attractive to many women and has been distributed to over 2.5 million women in more than 50 countries around the world. But we are very pleased to make CycleBeads more widely available to the women and health programs that need them through the AccessRH procurement system," said Ann Mullen, Cycle Technologies' Director of Client Services.

Ms. Mullen further notes, "CycleBeads is the only natural family planning method that can be ordered through this program."

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 about CycleBeads, please visit http://www.cyclebeads.com/.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Washington, DC -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/30/2013 -- Cycle Technologies' natural family planning tool, CycleBeads®, has been proven to be more than 95% effective for women using it to prevent pregnancy naturally. However, to use the method correctly, the company also stresses that it is important that a couple have a plan for how to handle a woman's fertile days.

To prevent pregnancy using CycleBeads, a couple should avoid having unprotected intercourse on the days that this method identifies as potentially fertile - days 8-19 of a woman's cycle. This fertile period takes into account the lifespan of the ovum, the lifespan of the sperm, and the variation in the timing of ovulation from one cycle to the next for women who have cycles that are in the 26-32 day range, the vast majority of women. Whether a couple chooses to use condoms, abstain, or use some other back up methods of family planning during these fertile days, having a plan ensures that a woman is much less likely to have an unplanned pregnancy.

"Being sure she leaves with a plan" is a widely-accepted best practice among practitioners who provide family planning methods to patients. But many CycleBeads users purchase them directly, without instruction or counseling from a provider. Since using CycleBeads correctly involves using a barrier method or not having sex on fertile days, having a plan is particularly important. Research from several countries around the world shows that couples who use CycleBeads appreciate the fact that this simple device facilitates their communication about their sexual behavior and helps them know in advance when the woman's fertile days will begin and end each cycle.

As a CycleBeads user said, "This is an incredibly easy form of birth control. You just move the ring every day. Simple, no mess, other than the initial price of the beads, there is no other cost… Another great benefit is that my husband can just look and see where I'm at as well, so he knows if it's safe to have sex, or if it's the wrong time of the month."

Another user says, "My husband is not a big fan of condoms and was always complaining, but now that he knows he only has to use them on days when I can get pregnant, it's a lot easier. We've been very clear from the beginning that on my fertile days we'll either use condoms or just wait. We don't need kids right now!"

When a woman purchases CycleBeads, she also receives a fertility calendar. The calendar can be used if a user ever forgets to move a ring on her CycleBeads. If she is using the CycleBeads web application or smartphone apps, then the fertility calendar is built into the apps and a user can see her fertile days and non-fertile days on a virtual set of CycleBeads as well as in a calendar format.

In all, CycleBeads provide a simple way for a woman to track her cycle, identify when her most fertile days and non-fertile days occur, and know that her cycles are in range for using this natural family planning method. To learn more about how this easy, effective natural birth control tool can be used to prevent pregnancy, please visit http://www.cyclebeads.com or call Cycle Technologies at 202-237-0622.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Answering the question “when can I get pregnant,” is not as easy as it sounds. Research has shown that most women are unable to identify which days of their cycles pregnancy is most likely. A simple natural family planning tool called CycleBeads® now available from Cycle Technologies can help a woman readily identify her fertile days and plan a pregnancy quickly.

Washington, D.C. -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/15/2013 -- Answering the question "when can I get pregnant," is not as easy as it sounds. Research has shown that most women are unable to identify which days of their cycles pregnancy is most likely. A simple natural family planning tool called CycleBeads® now available from Cycle Technologies can help a woman readily identify her fertile days and plan a pregnancy quickly.

According to the American Infertility Association, 20% of couples seeking fertility treatment are not timing intercourse correctly. A 2012 survey in Australia found that only 16% of women who were actively seeking fertility assistance could correctly identify which days they were most likely to get pregnant even though most of the women thought they were timing intercourse correctly to plan a pregnancy.

CycleBeads and the related CycleBeads apps are visual tools based on the Standard Days Method™ of family planning. This method takes into account that a woman is most fertile during the 5 days prior to ovulation and the 24 hours after; it also factors in the timing of ovulation and the lifespan of sperm. These tools can be used to both prevent and plan pregnancies and only require that a woman track the first day of her period each cycle. The tools will then identify which days pregnancy is possible and confirm that a woman's cycles are in the appropriate range (26-32 days) for using this natural family planning method correctly.

"While CycleBeads were originally designed to help a woman avoid pregnancy easily and naturally, we have found that many women are using them to achieve pregnancy as well. As an educational tool it is ideally suited to helping a woman simply understand how her body works and use that information however she wants," says Leslie Heyer, President of Cycle Technologies.

Recent surveys conducted by Cycle Technologies found that women using this natural family planning method to achieve pregnancy are able to get pregnant quickly. The surveys showed that of the 89% of women who successfully achieved pregnancy with CycleBeads or CycleBeads apps, 40% were pregnant within the first month of use, and 75% were pregnant within 3 months of use. 90% of respondents used CycleBeads as their only conception aid.

Women are often told that they should try for up to a year before seeking fertility treatments. It is also common for women to use charting and temperature tracking to try and identify their fertile days. For most women who want to know how to plan pregnancy, using a simple family planning method like CycleBeads can help them get pregnant quickly.

To learn more about how CycleBeads can help plan or prevent pregnancy, please visit http://www.cyclebeads.com or call Cycle Technologies at 202-237-0622.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Washington, DC -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/24/2012 -- A new survey conducted by Cycle Technologies found interesting results for women planning pregnancies using the natural family planning method CycleBeads®. The survey indicated that 80% of women who had purchased CycleBeads to achieve pregnancy were pregnant within the first six months, and that the majority of women were able to get pregnant in the first three months.

Out of the women who achieved pregnancy, more than 40% of them were successful in the first month, and 75% were able to get pregnant in the first three months. 90% of the women also indicated that the CycleBeads was their only conception aid.

While many women use CycleBeads to plan pregnancy, most women use this family planning tool to prevent pregnancy. If a woman were to choose CycleBeads in order to prevent pregnancy naturally, she should avoid having unprotected intercourse on days eight to nineteen of her cycle. If a woman wants to get pregnant, these are the days that she and her partner should target for intercourse.

Based on the Standard Days Method® of family planning, CycleBeads have been proven to be 95% effective as contraception. Even though CycleBeads were originally created to help women prevent pregnancy, this new survey reinforces the fact that it is also an effective tool for planning pregnancy.

When it comes to how to plan pregnancy, many women are told that they should try for up to a year before seeking fertility treatments. Using a family planning method like CycleBeads can speed up this process significantly and provide valuable information for a woman to share with her doctor. The medical recommendation for a woman who is actively trying to get pregnant using a family planning method such as CycleBeads, is that she should talk to her health provider about possible fertility issues if she is not pregnant within 6 months of trying.

To hear more about the results of this new survey, or to learn more about how CycleBeads can help plan or prevent pregnancy, please visit http://www.cyclebeads.com or call Cycle Technologies at 202-237-0622.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

As CycleBeads are most effective for women who have menstrual cycles that are normally 26 to 32 days long, the first question the survey asks a woman to consider is if her cycle falls somewhere between that range.

Washington, DC -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/11/2012 -- Cycle Technologies, distributor of the innovative natural family planning method CycleBeads®, is now offering women a screening tool to find out if CycleBeads are right for them. Aptly named the "CycleBeads Self-Screen," the survey asks women a series of seven yes-or-no questions and takes less than 5 minutes to complete.

As CycleBeads are most effective for women who have menstrual cycles that are normally 26 to 32 days long, the first question the survey asks a woman to consider is if her cycle falls somewhere between that range. A majority of women have cycles in this range, but not all. If a woman answers "yes", then she can move on with the screener knowing that she meets the one medical criteria for using CycleBeads to prevent pregnancy or to help her figure out how to plan pregnancy.

The second question revolves around whether or not the woman and her partner have both agreed to using CycleBeads. As a fertility awareness-based method, it is imperative that both partners are in agreement about using CycleBeads in order to use this family planning method effectively. It is also important for a woman to assess whether she or her partner are at risk for a sexually transmitted disease, since CycleBeads, like most birth control options, do not prevent STD's.

The last few questions revolve around special medical considerations such as if a woman has recently used a birth control pill, implant, or injectable, has recently been pregnant, or is breastfeeding. In these cases, there are certain steps she may have to take before she can begin using this natural family planning method to plan or prevent pregnancy naturally.

To try the screener tool, visit http://www.cyclebeads.com/screen. To learn more about CycleBeads and how they can help plan or prevent pregnancy, please visit http://www.cyclebeads.com.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

CycleBeads and the related iCycleBeads apps are easy to use hands-on visual tools that can be used to identify whether a woman is on one of her fertile days or her non-fertile days each month.

Washington, DC -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/11/2012 -- Two recent studies conducted by researchers at the Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University have revealed the benefits as well as a few challenges associated with integrating Cycle Technologies' natural family planning tool, CycleBeads®, into health programs. The results indicated that using CycleBeads brought new users to family planning and increased overall contraceptive use.

The studies also found that while providers considered CycleBeads easy to implement and effective, they often had difficulty remembering to offer this natural birth control option to potential patients. This challenge highlights the need for ongoing research to better understand how to integrate the family planning method fully into a health provider's standard services.

Ultimately, both of the studies indicated that there are significant benefits to offering this family planning method as part of a full range of family planning options. Introducing CycleBeads into their programs enabled health providers to recommend an even broader range of family planning options, including this non-hormonal and highly effective contraceptive. It also stimulated an increased interest in the continued overall use of contraception of all kinds, including hormonal and non-hormonal options.

CycleBeads and the related iCycleBeads™ apps are easy to use hands-on visual tools that can be used to identify whether a woman is on one of her fertile days or her non-fertile days each month. CycleBeads is a color-coded string of beads representing a woman's menstrual cycle. It provides an easy way for a woman to track her cycle, identify when her most fertile days or non-fertile days are, and know that her cycles are in range for using this natural family planning method.

To hear more about recent CycleBeads studies, or to learn more about how CycleBeads can help plan or prevent pregnancy, please visit http://www.cyclebeads.com or call Cycle Technologies at 202-237-0622.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Cycle Technologies, distributor of the unique family planning method CycleBeads®, is celebrating its 10 year anniversary this September 2012.

Washington, DC -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/15/2012 -- Cycle Technologies, distributor of the unique family planning method CycleBeads®, is celebrating its 10 year anniversary this September 2012. Since the launch of CycleBeads in 2002, more than 2.5 million women worldwide and more than 75,000 in the U.S. have used this natural family planning method to plan or prevent pregnancy effectively and naturally. CycleBeads have made natural family planning far more accessible to millions of women because it is much easier to teach and to use than other natural family planning methods. Health providers find it to be an easy way to offer an effective natural family planning method.

CycleBeads is the only natural family planning method offered by many mainstream health providers and is incorporated into a number of public health programs including Title X, Planned Parenthoods, as well as local and state health departments across the U.S. CycleBeads are also used by women to plan or prevent pregnancy in over 50 countries from Benin to Belgium, from East Timor to Ecuador, from Ghana to Guatemala, and many more.

While they initially started with CycleBeads, a visual tool that is made up of a color-coded string of beads, Cycle Technologies has more recently developed a number of other ways to use the Standard Days Method® of family planning including smartphone apps, and an innovative online app called iCycleBeads™ Online. These apps make this family planning method even more widely available as anyone with a smartphone or internet can access them.

A woman seeking the best natural birth control can use CycleBeads or the iCycleBeads apps to plan or prevent pregnancy as long as her cycles are between 26-32 days long. Research shows that a majority of women have cycles in this range.

To hear more about CycleBeads visit http://www.cyclebeads.com.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

CycleBeads is unique among family planning methods in that it is natural, highly effective, and easy to use. The CycleBeads tools use a color-coded representation of a woman’s menstrual cycle to help identify whether she is on a non-fertile day or a fertile day.

Washington, DC -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/06/2012 -- Cycle Technologies is proud to announce that it has expanded on CycleBeads®, the original way to use the Standard Days Method© - a natural family planning method, and is now offering a range of tools to plan or prevent pregnancy! CycleBeads is a hands-on visual tool that can be used by women worldwide as the most effective natural family planning method. iCycleBeads™ smartphone apps and the iCycleBeads Online web version, are interactive tools that can help women use this natural family planning method through their phones or online.

CycleBeads is unique among family planning methods in that it is natural, highly effective, and easy to use. The CycleBeads tools use a color-coded representation of a woman's menstrual cycle to help identify whether she is on a non-fertile day or a fertile day. In addition, they help monitor that her cycles are in range in order to achieve the most effective use of this family planning method. Any woman, whether she is seeking to have children or not, can benefit from using one of these family planning tools.

CycleBeads work the best for women with menstrual cycles that are generally between 26 and 32 days long. Using CycleBeads will aid a woman in determining if her cycles are in this range and whether they stay in this range. Women with menstrual cycles who are outside the 26 and 32 day range should use a different method of family planning to prevent pregnancy.

Any woman seeking the best natural birth control can use CycleBeads or the iCycleBeads apps as a tool to plan or prevent pregnancy. To hear more about CycleBeads visit http://www.cyclebeads.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm