Natural Cycles, the only FDA- approved contraceptive and fertility tracking app will now be integrated into select Garmin watches. This is an intriguing step forward for women’s health, as it could allow for more insight into individual cycles.
Compatible Garmin wearables, including many we’ve hailed as being among the best smartwatches, will now include the Natural Cycles app with either a monthly or annual subscription.
In case you’re unaware, Natural Cycles is a smartphone app that tracks your temperature throughout your cycle and shows you when you’re at your most fertile point. That means you can use Natural Cycles as an alternative to more “traditional” contraceptives like the pill or the coil, or you can use the app as a method to plan pregnancy.
Previously, you’d have to use either Natural Cycles’ own NC band, a compatible Oura Ring or Apple Watch to track your temperature. Now, those sporting a compatible Garmin watch can benefit too.
Natural Cycles’ integration with Garmin could be a huge leap for cycle tracking. While many of the best wearables do offer some cycle tracking, personally I find it difficult to find one that’s actually insightful. Plus, those on a controlled cycle (say if you’re on the pill) will likely find that wearables seem to almost guess what’s going on with their body.
As reported in a 2025 study, although “general biometric wearables, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers” do provide useful data, it’s thought they “fail to capture the complexity of menstrual cycles, hormone therapies and their physiological implications”.
I’d agree with this as I wear a Whoop MG and, although it’s undeniably great at tracking my (occasional) workouts and sleep, I wouldn’t necessarily rely on it for anything to do with my cycle tracking.
Sure, it offers somewhat of an overview, and allows me to log my periods and symptoms via the journal, but I find Whoop tends to automatically list general behaviour as a symptom of my cycle. For example, if I record that I’m feeling nervous: that’s PMS. Had disrupted sleep? Classic PMS sign right there (or was it actually because my phone went off after I failed to put it on do not disturb and woke me up? We’ll never know.)
Garmin and Natural Cycles
So, how will Garmin and Natural Cycles be any different? Well, a compatible Garmin will track your skin temperature during sleep, with the information then relayed to you via the Natural Cycles app. From here, you can see your fertile days — based purely on your own metrics rather than it being based on a “standard” 28-day cycle or relying on you, the user, to track your periods accurately.
According to Natural Cycles, tracking your cycle with its app will offer you up to 93% effectiveness, which is the same as the contraceptive pill. This stat will likely impress those who have previously taken the contraceptive pill and experienced many unwanted side effects, including mood swings, acne and weight changes too. That’s a pretty common occurrence for those on the pill, with controlled studies reporting nearly 50% of those observed reporting side effects. Not only that, but just open up the accompanying leaflet in a box of one of the mainstream pills and you’ll be greeted with an unpleasant array of side effects that may or may not affect you.
If you don’t want to risk experiencing any side effects, but want to avoid pregnancy, you’d be forced to avoid hormonal methods like the contraceptive pill and instead opt for either less reliable birth control methods or even have to endure an invasive and painful procedure instead. It undoubtedly feels like a lose/lose situation.
With this in mind, tools like Natural Cycles within Garmin offer a welcome alternative to traditional birth control methods.
However, all of this isn’t to say that anyone who wants to either prevent or plan a pregnancy should just opt for a Garmin smartwatch and Natural Cycles. Instead, this partnership is ideal for those who either want to move away from traditional and hormonal methods of birth control but still want control over their bodies.
While we still have a huge way to go, I’m quietly optimistic about this milestone and would be keen to try it myself.
