To help address the issue of unplanned pregnancy and maternal mortality in the developing world, researchers at the University of Georgetown’s Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH) recognized the need for an intuitive, natural contraception method that could meet the needs of families that chose not to use medical or surgical alternatives. IRH developed the Standard Days Method (SDM), a simple natural family planning system that could be implemented in all countries and cultures across the globe. In addition, the team created CycleBeads to provide a visual, tangible tool to help women follow the method.
When they introduced CycleBeads into the complex world of reproductive health, it met with some resistance. The space was heavily focused on medical and/or surgical interventions, so the idea of a family planning method that allows women to do something very simple to understand and control their own fertility was viewed with skepticism by certain stakeholders. This mini-case study describes the challenges faced by CycleBeads and the strategies the team used to help overcome resistance in the field.
This story is part of the Global Health Innovation Insight Series developed at Stanford University to shed light on the challenges that global health innovators face as they seek to develop and implement new products and services that address needs in resource-constrained settings.
Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Victoria Jennings of the Institute for Reproductive Health and Leslie Heyer of Cycle Technologies for their participation. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health grant 1 RC4 TW008781-01.