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Wearable ring Oura has introduced new pregnancy features in a bid to help pregnant people understand the changes their bodies go through.
It’s no secret that wearables have made health monitoring an everyday habit for many, from smart watches to smart earrings – and now it can help people stay informed throughout pregnancy too. On Tuesday, March 12, Oura Ring launched Pregnancy Insights, with data and in-app education to walk people through each trimester. It was developed by a team of scientists, led by Neta Gotlieb, PhD, women’s health product manager and clinical research scientist at Oura.
“Pregnancy is one of the most physiologically significant events in many members’ lives,” Dr. Gotlieb said. “Our goal with this feature is to equip our pregnant members to better know their bodies and take care of their health accordingly. And we’re just getting started — we’ll continue to iterate and develop this feature based on our members’ input.”
What pregnancy features does Oura Ring offer?
Oura Ring users can turn on Pregnancy Insights in the new Women’s Health settings in the menu at the top left of the home screen or opt-in after tagging a positive test in their tracking.
From then on, users can track their gestational age (meaning how far along they are in their pregnancies) and get weekly updates on physiological changes they can expect. For example, people can expect to see their resting heart rate spike after conception, and then drop off. Levels of restless sleep while pregnant can also be compared to those of other expectant people.
Pregnancy Insights also offers in-app content on topics related to bearing a child, based on population-level data and peer-reviewed research. These are general trends and user data may deviate from the patterns you see in the Pregnancy Insights content.
“Although we can characterize the physiological pattern for most pregnancies, every person and every pregnancy is unique and deviations or fluctuations are not necessarily a negative sign,” Dr. Gotlieb explains. “If you have questions about your individual pregnancy, it’s best to speak with your OB-GYN.”
Oura also states that minor fluctuations are normal and advises users to monitor long-term trends using the data provided by the wearable ring.
Featured image: Oura Ring
