The concept aims to eliminate uncertainty surrounding women’s hormonal wellness.
Essential information
- Oura unveiled two significant features in a May 6 update targeting women’s health: Hormonal Birth Control support and Menopause Insights.
- The birth control support will rely on a woman’s selected contraception method to illustrate its potential impact on their baseline, while Menopause Insights emphasizes symptoms and personalized assistance.
- In April, Oura introduced a partnership with Vida Health to help users comprehend vital cardiovascular shifts.
Oura is launching May with an update that introduces two tools aimed at women’s health to eliminate uncertainty in hormonal wellness.
Earlier today (May 1), Oura disclosed (via BusinessWire) that Hormonal Birth Control support and Menopause Insights will soon feature in its app. Holly Shelton, Oura’s chief product officer, pointed out the motivation for this update, saying, “Hormonal health has often been considered a secondary concern in both medicine and technology for many years.” The company aims to address this by incorporating Birth Control support into Oura’s existing Cycle Insights.
Aiming to move past “dispersed support,” this new functionality relies on pills, patches, IUDs, and additional methods to demonstrate how contraception could affect women’s baselines over time. Once the update launches on May 6, women can log their contraception choice and “observe the effect of hormonal contraceptives on temperature trends, sleep, and recovery.”
Tracking symptoms, along with customized education, will assist women in recognizing what’s typical for their bodies.
The other aspect of this update, set to roll out next week, is Menopause Insights. Oura indicates this is still one of the most “neglected and misunderstood stages” in women’s health.
To address this, Oura plans to provide a “symptom assessment,” following which “members will receive a personalized dashboard translating their symptoms into an overall impact score.” The My Health View in the Oura app enables users to monitor sudden changes and observe lifestyle modifications, stress, and more. Users can save this information and share it with their healthcare providers during appointments for better understanding.
Making informed decisions
Cycle Insights has been part of the Oura app for some time, with an update last fall enhancing its scope. This coincided with Oura’s announcement of its Blood Pressure Profile study aimed at helping users detect potential symptoms of hypertension. Cycle Insights expanded its informational timeframe from one month to 12. Now, women (if you’re an Oura Member) possess a broader contextual window to interpret their period and ovulation predictions.
Mid-April introduced another collaboration with Oura, as it integrated Vida Health, a virtual cardiometabolic healthcare provider. The intention was to allow Vida Health to utilize Oura’s data on sleep, heart rate variability, resting heart rate, and more, in conjunction with its clinical health data to assist users in recognizing cardiovascular indicators. If a medical consultation is recommended, users will receive a notification.
Android Central’s Perspective
I believe that having more information and resources available for women’s health is advantageous. At times, it seems as though individuals are hesitant to discuss these topics. Women’s health is vital, as important as anyone else’s. There’s a plethora of misinformation, and often you find someone desperately trying to piece together what resonates with them. However, everyone is unique. It appears Oura recognizes this and is taking steps that could be beneficial.