My fitness tracker knew I was pregnant before I did

An important development from the financial markets: My fitness tracker knew I was pregnant before I did ByAshitha NageshPublished1 hour agoRavika was celebrating her birthday on holiday with her husband when she got an unusual alert from her fitness tracker. Her Oura ring flagged that her health score was poor. Her heart rate had gone up, her body temperature was elevated and her heart rate variability (HRV) had dropped.

Yet Ravika felt completely fine. When the stats hadn't improved a week later, the 34-year-old solicitor from the West Midlands did some research online and found a community of women who all said their fitness trackers had been giving them signs they were pregnant, based on the data the trackers had collected. It was another week before Ravika had a positive pregnancy test.

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Image source, RavikaImage caption, Ravika says her Oura ring flagged that her health score was poor - yet she felt completely fine But following some cramping and a notification on her phone telling her that her body appeared to be under significant strain, she went to the doctor and was told she'd need to return 10 days later for further testing to find out if the pregnancy was healthy. The wait was agonising - and led to her anxiously checking her fitness tracker stats, waking up at 4am every night "just to refresh my app to see if my stats were still low, if my temperature was still elevated. I was holding on to hope that it was a viable pregnancy".

The stats, she said, became an "obsession" - but "for me it really did feel like a life or death situation". Image caption, For Ravika, checking her fitness tracker stats became an "obsession" For many women, the first sign that they might be pregnant is a period that doesn't arrive when expected. This is around the same time it's possible to take a pregnancy test.

With the exception of some tests that claim to be able to detect a pregnancy early, most aren't able to spot the change in hormones until the first day of a missed period. But Ravika is one of hundreds of women who are reporting online that they are seeing the signs earlier than this, through the data on their fitness trackers. Fitness trackers - including smart rings, smart watches and chest-mounted trackers - have surged in popularity in the UK.

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According to YouGov research, 36% of British adults in January 2026 owned and used a fitness tracker - nearly twice the proportion in July 2019. Finnish-US company Oura has the highest sales in the smart ring market, which also includes India-based Ultrahuman, and Hong Kong-based RingConn. Predicting miscarriages as well as pregnancies One of the key signs of pregnancy is a change to body temperature - which means trackers that can monitor body temperature are popular with those trying to conceive.

In a typical cycle, a woman's body temperature will be elevated until just before her period comes, when it drops sharply. In early pregnancy, body temperature usually stays high. If a fitness tracker measures body temperature, it can pick up on this early symptom.

Financial markets are tracking the development closely as investors assess the likely impact.