What is the e-Cycle

For a Shs 220 text message on a handheld mobile phone, women can now know when they are most likely to conceive and keep away from sex.

A new method of family planning, E-CYCLE, allows busy forgetful working women to use the natural method of family planning to space or limit their births.

The method borrows heavily from MoonBeads, a natural family planning method that was launched by AFFORD Uganda in 2006 and funded by USAID. The method follows a woman’s monthly cycle where a woman can know her fertile days when she is most likely to conceive.

Only 17% of women in Uganda can correctly identify their fertile days and only 24% are using a family planning method. Many women who bought the beads have eventually stopped using them because of inconsistence in monitoring their menstrual cycle.

While the MoonBead method can guarantee 95% effectiveness, the daily troubles and life’s demands make it hard for women to carry along the beads and keep count every day. However, with the E-CYCLE a woman sends “Cycle start” to 8777 on the first day of her menstrual periods. She then gets a reminder when her safe days start and when they stop.

On the start of the unsafe days, the subscriber gets a notification reminding her that she is in danger time and will most likely conceive if she engages in unprotected sex. Women who are trying to conceive can also use this method to know when they are most fertile and likely to conceive.
A woman is also sent a reminder when her unsafe days expire and safe days commence.

The new method avails women more methods of family planning to choose from. The new technology inspired method also allows religious women who don’t believe in modern methods of contraceptive to space their children. It also allows women who are affected by the hormonal contraception a natural option. It however doesn’t protect from transmission of HIV and Aids.

The method was digitized by Ian Mpamizo, a software developer working with BlueCube, a mobile software company.  “It works just like the other MoonBeads; what I did was just to provide the same method in a simple, safe and more effective way”, Mpamizo told The Observer.

The method also allows for Uganda to minimize population growth. Uganda’s population today is 33 million people and is likely to reach 55 million by 2025 if the population continues to grow at a rate of 3.4% – the second highest in the world. The E-CYCLE is a new cheaper, easier and effective method women can use.