New `high-tech' pregnancy aid available in local shops

A new gadget that can help women get pregnant -- or avoid pregnancy -- by precisely detecting the release of eggs from their ovaries has been introduced to the local market this week.

Yen Feng-lin (顏鳳麟), chief of the Gynecology Department of Cathay General Hospital in Taipei, said there are three ways for women of child-bearing age to detect when they are ovulating.

One by calculating the egg-release date by dividing the menstrual cycle, which varies from 24 to 32 days, by two, as ovulation usually takes place during the middle of the menstrual cycle. However, this method is of little use to women whose menstrual cycles are not regular.

The second method is meas-uring a woman's temperature when they wake up in the morning, before getting out of bed. Body temperature peaks during ovulation.

However, taking a person's temperature every morning is troublesome, especially for those whose jobs oblige them to work different shifts from time to time.

The third method is measuring the traces of estrogen in a woman's urine. As the level of estrogen peaks, the ovaries will release eggs.

The shortcomings of this method are that the estrogen levels have to be judged by subtle color changes in a strip of test paper, and the difference is hard to detect with the untrained eye.

The new device, shaped like a pen, measures the estrogen in the urine via a beam of light.

As estrogen levels increase, the device flashes a "smiley" on its LCD display, indicating that eggs will be released in the next 24 to 36 hours, the optimal period to get pregnant, Yen said.

The kit, priced at NT$1,800 (US$53.75), will save a lot of time and effort for couples who are trying to have a baby, he said.