Why ask one friend about her experience with fertility when you can hear from millions?

Our newest feature Glow Pages collects the experiences of millions into one searchable directory. Glow Pages provides crowdsourced reviews of fertility clinics and products, searchable both online and in the Glow app.

Consider it the next step in our mission to empower you and your health :) 

Back in March, we assured you that you didn’t need to panic about the Zika virus. While we acknowledged that the virus was a real condition that was causing birth defects for a growing number of babies in Brazil, it was nothing to worry about for the average American.

Unfortunately, the threat of Zika has grown in the past six months, and the press freak-out has been intense. Reporters and bloggers have warned us to avoid honeymoons and babymoons anywhere near Zika-infected areas. Some athletes even chose to skip the Rio Olympics due to risk of Zika exposure.

Wondering if it’s time to freak out, right? We are, too. To start, here’s what’s changed about Zika since March–and what you can do to protect yourself whether you’re pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or just intent on staying healthy.

Something you definitely don’t need to panic about: mosquitoes the size of kittens

In March, Zika was a serious threat in Brazil only. Since then, Zika has also penetrated the Caribbean and all of Central and South America; the CDC has updated their travel warnings accordingly. Until July, the only instances of Zika in the continental U.S. were contracted when traveling in infected areas. Then Zika-infected mosquitoes turned up in Miami. Forty-nine people have been infected in the Miami area since.

What’s more, mosquitoes are no longer the only beings to blame for Zika’s geographical movement; recently we’ve seen a few cases of American women contracting Zika from sexual contact with infected men. In addition, it turns out that Zika doesn’t just put your baby at risk. Research published just last week shows that those infected with Zika have a higher risk of developing Guillain-Barré Syndrome—a rare condition that causes the immune system to attack nerves and leads to progressive paralysis.

In spite of how scary this sounds and how intimidating the media frenzy is, it’s not worth panicking just yet. Widespread spraying of the affected areas is already happening in Miami, so mosquitoes carrying Zika are unlikely to rapidly move to other parts of Florida (fun fact: Zika-transmitting mosquitoes typically travel less than 400 meters in their entire lives!). Experts say that local mosquitoes are only likely to spread Zika where they’ve previously spread other illnesses, like dengue fever. That narrows the field to small portions of southern Florida and the southern tip of Texas.

Of course, Zika will continue evolving, as viruses do, and the virus will will most likely begin to improve its person-to-person (instead of mosquito-to-person) transmission, so we’ll have to keep an eye on that. What’s more, scientists are working quickly to develop a vaccine for Zika— in fact, it’s already being tested in humans.

So, unless you travel frequently to Latin America or live in Miami, it’s unlikely that Zika will affect your life very much. Despite your location, it’s worth it to take a few precautions. Here’s how you can stay safe, whether you’re trying to conceive and planning travel in Latin America or just working to have the healthiest pregnancy possible:

• Wear insect repellent, especially the kind that contains DEET. Especially important in tropical areas, but useful everywhere. Zika isn’t the only disease mosquitoes carry, and bug bites are annoying, even if they’re not transmitting anything but a nagging itch.
• Use condoms when having sex with a new partner. This is a good practice in general, but especially when you’re canoodling with someone who’s been traveling (most especially if their travels have brought them to Florida or Latin America!)  If you’re pregnant or trying to make a baby, make sure your partner also limits travel to high-risk areas and wears insect repellent if/when he or she is on the road.
• Talk to your doctor about further precautions to take or if you have any questions. She’ll know the specifics of your situation and will be able to advise you accurately.

Stay safe out there, friends!

That’s right. Premium’s been live in Glow Nurture and Glow Baby for a few weeks, it went live in the Eve by Glow app on Friday, and now it’s finally hitting the Glow app!

Get ready to know your Glow even better with premium insights, content, and community features. The annual premium subscription costs $3.99 per month (less than a latte!) and applies across all Glow company apps. And you can try the first month for free. So, why haven’t you checked it out yet? :)

Men are cute. And often, they’re great.

But let’s face it—males are probably not the best source of info on your fertility. Heck, many of us women don’t know all the ins and outs of our fertility, either!

We have compiled some highly scientific proof:

Glow knows. And that doesn’t make your man any less fine!  In fact, with Glow, you’ll both be prepared for smart sex: the best kind ;)

Glow is 2! That’s right. We just had a big b-day. There was cake cake cake. And while riding the sugar high, we took a deep dive into our epic data set to see what we could find.  

Turns out, we’ve collected a lot of interesting tidbits! We just had to spill. Et voilà—check out what we can show the world after two years of getting it on :)

Apple’s iOS9 launches today, and so do the next versions of Ruby and Glow!

One of the sweetest updates in iOS9 is HealthKit 2.0. It’s the HealthKit we love PLUS reproductive health features :)

Our apps are HealthKit’s BFFs. Your logs on Ruby and Glow will sync with your Health App, and vice versa, so that your reproductive health info is up-to-date everywhere, all the time. 

Also, you’ll be able to see fitness, nutrition, and sleep alongside your cycle info. Repro health doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and the new iOS9 integrations reflect that.

One last thing: Ruby’s now on Apple Watch. Smart wrists of the world will always know when period time is nigh :)

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, commonly known as PCOS, wreaks havoc on the lives of millions of woman. As many as 1 in 10 women have PCOS—and most are not aware that they have it. These women do not understand why they are gaining weight that they cannot seem to lose, why they start balding, why they have to pluck chin hair day-in, day-out. Most heartbreakingly, these women do not understand that miscarriage is triggered by this vile condition.

Many people view PCOS as a cosmetic problem, not realizing its potentially devastating consequences. We need more awareness around PCOS.  To help you know how to identify PCOS, Glow put together this list of questions you can ask yourself.

1. Are your periods irregular?

Irregular periods, especially cycles that last 35+ days, often correspond with PCOS.  This is called amenorrhea. And even though it may sound convenient not to have to deal with your period, it’s not. Not having your period means that you rarely ovulate. If you do not ovulate, you cannot become pregnant—and worse, you are at a greater risk for miscarriage. Cases where amenorrhea is caused by low estrogen levels can also put women at risk for osteoporosis.

2. Is the hair on your face migrating from your scalp to your chin?

Yes, this happens,  It’s called androgen excess—a very common symptom for women with PCOS. Androgen excess can cause a whole bevy of issues including excessive facial and body hair, and male-pattern baldness. Not fun :(

3. Do you have acne all over?

PCOS-related acne tends to flare up in areas that are usually considered “hormonally sensitive,” especially the lower third of the face. Cheeks, jawline, chin, and upper neck—be warned.

4. Are you overweight?

More than 60% of women who have PCOS are also overweight. PCOS makes it more difficult for the body to use the hormone insulin, which normally helps convert sugars and starches from foods into energy. The insulin builds up in the bloodstream, and high insulin levels make gaining weight all too easy. Once the additional weight has arrived, losing it is impossibly difficult. The most maddening part? The weight gain is cyclical in nature: The more weight you gain, the greater your insulin resistance, the more weight you gain. Ugg.

So, do I have PCOS?

If you have answered “yes” to more than 3 of the above 4 questions above, then bite the bullet and talk to your doctor about PCOS. Though there is no cure, PCOS can be managed—early identification and treatment are essential to minimizing some of the condition’s effects. Plus, the earlier you know, the more options you have for getting help and taking your health into your own hands.

For the last millennia there has been an assumption that the moon must affect a woman’s menstrual cycle in some way. Or could it all be a coincidence that the lunar cycle and a woman’s cycle are about equal in length?

All prior studies done on this phenomenon were conducted on a few hundred women. For the first time ever, Glow has been able to test this hypothesis on no less than 38,205 cycles - a much more robust sample by any standard.

The conclusion: Why yes! There is indeed a relationship.

According to our analysis, which we are presenting this very day at the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), fewer women than expected get their periods when the moon is full. Conversely, more women than expected get their periods when the moon is waxing crescent. We need to do more studies to determine the causality - but this is a step in an illuminating direction.

While Glow was running this study in conjunction with our medical advisor, Dr. Philip Chenette, for the ASRM’s annual conference, we also stumbled across another fascinating tidbit of information.

You know that oft-quoted fact that the average menstrual cycle is 28 days?

Well it turns out…not so much.

According to those 38,205 cycles we analyzed - the average menstrual period is closer to 29.9 days. (Which ties in rather neatly with the fact that the lunar cycle is about 29.5 days.)

As you can see from the chart below - lots of women assume that their cycle is 28 days and act accordingly. But knowing the true length of your cycle can greatly boost your chances of conceiving or avoiding pregnancy, depending upon your preference.

Glow is at the forefront of our emerging ability to crunch and analyze vast quantities of data. We strongly believe that with time, our conclusions will empower women to take control over their reproductive health in unexpected ways.

This is, after all, the age of data. And Glow is just getting started.