The Oura Ring offers a growing suite of reproductive health features, including Period Prediction and an integration with the Natural Cycles app.
Period Prediction
What is Period Prediction?
What’s Unique About Oura’s Approach?
How Period Prediction Works
How to Use Period Prediction
Getting the Most Out of Period Prediction
Things to Keep in Mind
How to Turn Off Period Prediction
Natural Cycles App Integration
Period Prediction
What is Period Prediction?
Period Prediction is designed for women and all people with a menstrual cycle, and uses key biosignals to provide a multi-day prediction window for the start of your next cycle and period onset. In addition to your upcoming monthly prediction, you’ll see historical data in the Oura App, helping you self-educate on your individual cycle and rhythms over the course of time.
Members can view their Period Prediction information directly on the Home tab within the Oura App, including a body temperature graph, current cycle day, latest body temperature difference from baseline, estimated next period start, and a dynamic calendar button. Note the temperature graph for Period Prediction uses your body temperature nightly deviation to highlight changes in body temperature variations between cycle phases and throughout the cycle.
Period Prediction is only available on the Oura Ring Gen3.
You can also tap into the Period Prediction home card to find additional information around temperature and your cycle history. In the detailed view, you’ll be able to see the below data:
Temperature:
- A visual temperature graph with your body temperature nightly deviation
- Body temperature
- Cycle day and date
- Estimated next period start
- Method of prediction (based on body temperature or calendar method)
- The ability to log period period start
- An option to click to the calendar view
History:
- Past cycles, including date of start and length
- The ability to log and delete periods
What’s Unique About Oura’s Approach?
Because there are unique changes that occur in body temperature across the menstrual cycle, body temperature is the key biosignal used to accurately track, predict, and visualize your monthly cycle. The menstrual cycle has two main phases, the follicular phase and the luteal phase. During the follicular phase, which is from the first day of menstruation to ovulation, changes in hormonal levels may cause your body temperature to decrease. During the luteal phase, from ovulation until the next menstruation, rising progesterone levels usually elevate your body temperature.
Oura uses your nightly body temperature, along with other biosignals like HRV, to make your period prediction window. Your period prediction windows are created from comprehensive data that builds over time, not single intakes. Historically, most period tracking solutions rely on “the calendar method,” which uses your last period start date and a user-inputted cycle length to predict the start of your next cycle. However, periods can change from cycle to cycle and be impacted by various factors like stress, diet, and illness.
During your first 60 days of using Period Prediction, Oura will base your predictions off of the calendar method and the information you provided during onboarding. After 60 days, your predictions will be based on body temperature, as long as you have enough nights of temperature data, which means your prediction windows can update as your body changes over time.
How Period Prediction Works
Period Prediction works for individuals with natural temperature fluctuations in their cycle. Oura predicts your period start date by tracking patterns in your natural body temperature variation over the course of your cycle. Keep in mind, you’ll need at least two months’ worth of consistent temperature data recorded in the Oura App for personal body temperature to be used in predictions. If you’re still in the process of accumulating your 60-day temperature baseline, or if your natural variation can't be detected due to contraceptive use or other hormonal changes, predictions will be based on your last period, cycle length, and regularity. Read more about the Period Prediction feature or Using Oura Temperature To Track Your Menstrual Cycle.
Period Prediction does not recognize pregnancy. If you get pregnant, we do not recommend using the feature.
How to Use Period Prediction
1. During the onboarding process to your Oura Ring Gen3, you’ll see an intro card in your Home 
tab. Tap anywhere on the card, or select "Get started."
2. If you choose not to use Period Prediction immediately, you can get started later via Settings 
. Tap the menu 
in the upper-left hand corner of your Home tab > select Settings > Period prediction. You can toggle the feature on, and read more about how Period Prediction works and our privacy policy.
Onboard
1. Once you join, you’ll be guided through our two-step onboarding flow, followed by a short background questionnaire.
2. All three questions are mandatory. However, your regularity and cycle length can be edited later via Settings . We’ll ask you to share the following:
- When did your last period start? Give us your best estimate if you can’t recall
- On average, how long is your usual cycle? For reference, Oura counts cycle length from the first day of your period to the day before your next period starts
Once you’ve completed all the questions, tap "Done."
Receive your monthly predictions
1. Your Period Prediction will appear in the Period prediction card and as a multi-day window on your Oura calendar 
. To access your Oura calendar, you can click on the Period Prediction card in the Home tab or select "Today" in light blue, located directly at the top of the screen.
2. You can scroll up and down through your calendar to see previous and upcoming months.
3. Your five-day prediction window for the upcoming month will be indicated with dotted outlines, while your confirmed start date from the previous month will be indicated with a solid fill. Note: at this time, Oura is able to provide cycle prediction for one month in advance via the calendar view.
4. You’ll receive notifications on your Home tab informing you of your upcoming start date and to log your period start to help Oura improve your future predictions.
5. You can also log your period start date using the + button in the lower right-hand corner of your Home tab. This is helpful in case your period begins outside of the predicted five-day window. Though we can’t always plan for our body’s spontaneity, keeping track of these irregularities helps Oura get to know you and your cycle tendencies better, allowing your future predictions to improve.
6. After either (1) confirming your Period Prediction notification or (2) manually logging your period using the + button, a card labeled "Log period start" will appear next. Here, you can log your flow level on the day your period starts. Tap "Done" in the upper right-hand corner once you’ve finished. Currently, you can only log flow level for the day your period begins.
7. Once your period start is logged, you can view and edit it in Home . It’ll appear under "Activities" as "Period start." Tap anywhere on the card, or select the → to edit. Please note: the "Period start" tag, automatically added as a result of confirming or manually logging your period, is not the same as the "Period" tag. The "Period" tag, which can be found and added from the Tags list, cannot be used interchangeably with the automatically triggered, "Period start" tag.
Getting the Most Out of Period Prediction
- Wear your ring on a consistent, 24/7 basis to help build a robust temperature data profile.
- Confirm the start date of your period each month. If you haven’t yet accumulated at least two months’ worth of temperature data in your Oura App, you must confirm your period start date for each cycle to continue receiving predictions.
- As you continue to accumulate more temperature data by wearing your Oura Ring 24/7, and confirming or logging the exact start date of your period each month, your predictions will become more accurate. With your routine monthly confirmations, period predictions made by Oura are estimated to be more than 85% accurate.
Things to Keep in Mind
- If you’re currently taking a hormonal contraceptive, because your body’s natural temperature variation is impacted as a result, Period Prediction may not be able to accurately assess the timing of your period (if you still menstruate under these circumstances). This is because regardless of the hormonal contraceptive being used, your cyclical variations, overall cycle length, and bleeding tendencies are all likely to deviate from your body’s natural patterns under these circumstances.
- Medical factors such as infertility and fertility treatments, endometriosis, pregnancy, breastfeeding, overtraining, weight loss, stress, etc. can also have an impact on the key biosignals used to predict your period by Oura. If one, or any, of these apply to you, please know this may impact Oura’s ability to accurately and consistently predict your period each month.
- Only one period can be logged per calendar month, and data integrations from other period tracking apps such as Apple Health or Clue are not currently available.
- The length of your menstrual flow (i.e., number of bleeding days during your cycle) cannot currently be tracked by this feature. However, we hope to add this type of expansion in our next stages of development.
How to Turn Off Period Prediction
You can choose to turn on or off the Period Prediction feature at any point in time via Settings . Tap the menu in the upper-left hand corner of your Home tab > Select Settings > Period Prediction.
You can toggle the Period Prediction off, which will pause the feature and remove it from your Home tab. Selecting Delete Data will disable the feature and delete the past data from your app. If you decide to restart the feature, you’ll need to complete our short background questionnaire again.
Natural Cycles App Integration
Now, you can prevent or plan pregnancy with Natural Cycles, powered by Oura. The Natural Cycles app is the first birth control app, and it’s cleared by the FDA in the US and certified in Europe for use with a continuous wearable temperature trend monitor such as the Oura Ring.
If you have a Natural Cycles subscription, you can opt in to allow temperature trend data collected by your Oura Ring to be automatically synced to the Natural Cycles app. These temperature trends are then used to calculate your daily fertility status within the Natural Cycles app.
There are no changes to the Oura App, and the integration is available to Gen2 users and Gen3 users with active membership.
For more information, see our Natural Cycles integrations article or visit the Natural Cycles page.
