EPISODE · Jul 30, 2025 · 24 MIN
Can an activity tracker tell you if you are pregnant? Conversation with Professor Benjamin Smarr, Part I
from Making Sense of Pregnancy: What Experts Want you To Know About Your Body · host Paulette Kamenecka
In the olden days, women measured something called basal body temperature (BBT), which is core temperature, to track ovulation by measuring their temperature right when they wake up--it's the first thing you'd do-- with a special thermometer that measured to at least one-tenth of a degree, and record it on a chart (maybe on your phone, maybe on paper) to identify a subtle temperature shift. But those were the horse and buggy days of biohacking. Now we can wear a ring that provides a continuous read out of your temperature and sends it to an app on your phone; and not only can it tell you if you are ovulating, it may be able to tell you if you are pregnant. Today we talk to Dr. Benjamin Smarr, PhD, who has used sensor data to uncover some of the dynamics of your body in pregnancy. You can find Dr. Smarr's work here: https://smarr.ucsd.edu/
What this episode covers
In the olden days, women measured something called basal body temperature (BBT), which is core temperature, to track ovulation by measuring their temperature right when they wake up--it's the first thing you'd do-- with a special thermometer that measured to at least one-tenth of a degree, and record it on a chart (maybe on your phone, maybe on paper) to identify a subtle temperature shift. But those were the horse and buggy days of biohacking. Now we can wear a ring that provides a con...
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Can an activity tracker tell you if you are pregnant? Conversation with Professor Benjamin Smarr, Part I
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