In this episode of Not Alone, Valeria sits down with Dr. Elina Berglund Scherwitzl, a former particle physicist turned femtech innovator, and the co-founder of Natural Cycles, the first FDA-cleared birth control app.
This episode is brought to you by Natural Cycles: The company changing the contraception game with the world’s first FDA-cleared birth control app. Whether you're looking to prevent pregnancy or plan for it, the Natural Cycles app offers a non-hormonal, non-invasive alternative to traditional birth control. Right now, you can get 15% off an annual subscription plus a freeBluetooth thermometer when you visit https://www.naturalcycles.com and use promo code VALERIA at checkout. Natural Cycles is for 18+ and does not protect against STIs. Always read and follow the instructions for use.
In this episode of Not Alone, Valeria sits down with Dr. Elina Berglund Scherwitzl, a former particle physicist turned femtech innovator, and the co-founder of Natural Cycles, the first FDA-cleared birth control app. Together, they dive into how Dr. Elina’s background in physics led her to develop a groundbreaking algorithm that helps women better understand their bodies, and offers a hormone-free alternative to traditional birth control.
The conversation explores everything from the skepticism she faced in disrupting a multi-billion-dollar industry, to how data and wearable technology are transforming women’s health. Valeria and Dr. Elina discuss the phases of the female cycle, the negative effects of hormonal birth control, and the importance of empowering women with better education and tools for their reproductive health. They also touch on the future of personalized medicine, male contraception, and the potential of syncing our lives more intentionally with our bodies.
📱Follow Dr. Elina:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elinascherwitzl/?hl=en
About Natural Cycles:
Website: https://www.naturalcycles.com/
Dr. Elina’s Book Recommendation: This Is Your Brain on Birth Control
Shop my looks from this episode: https://shopmy.us/shop/collections/2638644
Follow me: https://www.instagram.com/valerialipovetsky/
What we talked about:
0:19 - Halloween at the Lipovetsky’s house
1:20 - Introducing Dr. Elina Berglund Scherwitzle
2:42 - Start of interview
4:00 - Dr. Elina’s background as a physicist
5:13 - Starting Natural Cycles
7:00 - Creating an algorithm as a birth control method
9:00 - Skepticism about disrupting the birth control industry
12:50 - Explaining how Natural Cycles work
13:35 - How the algorithm works
14:39 - Effectiveness is the same as hormonal birth control
17:17 - Negative effects of hormonal birth control
19:00 - Perimenopause
21:00 - Changing sex ed
22:22 - Thoughts on male contraception
24:20 - Breaking down the phases of female cycles
26:15 - Monthly fertile window
27:40 - Women with Irregular cycles using Natural Cycles
29:00 - Getting Natural Cycles data to doctors
30:15 - Wearable technology
31:20 - Working with her husband
32:55 - The future of women’s health
36:53 - Can women sync their cycles?
37:20 - Users questions and comments
40:13 - Dr. Elina’s Book Recommendation
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Dr. Elina Berglund Scherwitzl is the co-founder and co-CEO of Natural Cycles, the women’s health company behind the world’s first FDA-cleared birth control app. A former particle physicist, she was part of the Nobel Prize-winning CERN team that discovered the Higgs boson before turning her scientific expertise toward women’s health. Drawing on that background, Elina developed the proprietary algorithm that powers NC° Birth Control, a Class II medical device that uses biometric data to determine daily fertility status and is certified by regulatory bodies across the U.S., Europe, Canada, and beyond. Under her leadership, Natural Cycles has grown into a profitable, mission-driven company with more than four million registered users worldwide. Today, the platform goes beyond birth control to support women through perimenopause, postpartum, and other under-addressed stages of their health journey. Elina remains a passionate advocate for harnessing science and technology to transform and personalize women’s health care.
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