These 5 startups offer tech-led healthcare solutions to pregnant women, new mums
From tests and expert advice to emotional support and breastfeeding pods, these 5 startups are using technology to help women enjoy the pregnancy and motherhood journey.
Pregnant women face different types of stress, fear, and emotions. They have to be extra careful, adhere to medical advice, and prioritise their health. However, medical facilities are not always available or adequate at all times.
Women need emotional assistance not just during pregnancy, but also after delivering the baby. At a time when technology has penetrated every sector, maternal care is also benefiting.
Many startups are leveraging technology to help pregnant women and new mothers by building apps, wearable devices, etc. Here are some startups that are helping women during and after pregnancy.
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iMumz
is a mobile application that helps pregnant women with holistic health advice and helps them create a bond with their unborn babies. It provides medical information along with meditation activities, mental exercises, music therapy, conscious breathing lessons, nutritional advice, fetal learning, physical activity, and more.
During the lockdown period, it is helping pregnant women with live AMA sessions and meditation activities every day. It has also started free consultations with doctors as pregnant women are unable to visit their doctors at this time.
The app was founded by two IIT Varanasi alumni Ravi Teja Akondia and Mayur Dhurpate, along with life coach and meditation expert Rajesh Jagasia, and Dr Jaideep Malhotra, an obstetrician who has delivered over 10,000 babies. Jaideep has also served as the President of Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) in 2018.
PregBuddy
Initially started as a WhatsApp group, is now a platform that lets expectant moms connect with and clear each other’s doubts, and also get expert advice on various issues. A SaaS platform, it provides personalised care to women through doctors and health experts.
The founders have pivoted from being a peer-to-peer platform to a B2B product, bringing users, caregivers and hospital management on to one platform with a smart algorithm. Understanding the need of pregnant women to seek medical advice apart from emotional support, it has on-boarded doctors and medical practitioners.
The AI-enabled care continuum platform is fed by constant data points that inform doctors about women who require immediate help. This helps pregnant women get access to medical and emotional support whenever they require. The platform is available in Hindi and English.
WeeSure
When Poonam Gupta was pregnant, she had to take several pregnancy tests and discovered that most of the tests were messy and not easy to use. This led her to create , which she claims is the only device in the world that allows women to stand and test for pregnancy in one go.
It does not involve collection or storage of urine in a dropper or cup, making the process hygienic and hassle-free. The funnel-like pregnancy test has a strip to test pregnancy and requires only a minimum amount of urine.
The test takes only 60 seconds to yield results, and is available at a minimal cost of Rs 75. It can be bought on the WeeSure website.
I Love 9 months
is a startup providing virtual and offline support to expectant and new mothers through its mobile app, birth companion programme, and breastfeeding and lactation pods.
The brainchild of three women – Anjali Raj, her mother Ganga Raj, and Suma Ajith – I Love 9 Months has a three-pronged approach. It offers a mobile app for accessible, virtual support; a birth companion programme, Sahodari, with premium home care support; a breastfeeding pod for public places and a lactation pod for corporate offices.
The Birth Companion programme comprises visits by experts that cover breastfeeding, emotional health, diet, exercise, the baby’s immunisation and development, and Ayurvedic massages for both the mother and baby.
Based in Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad, the startup provides products that enable pregnant women and new mums with all the support they need.
Empathy Design Labs
Bengaluru-based Empathy Design Labs, founded by Shivi Kapil, designed Kriya, a wearable device for daily monitoring of pregnancy. The IoT-embedded product provides alerts and suggestions to pregnant women.
In a bid to provide better prenatal care to women and continuously monitor a pregnant woman’s health, the non-invasive device monitors foetal and maternal parameters. The product analyses data through a proprietary algorithm, based on which alerts are sent to an app about the health of the mother and the baby.
If any anomaly is detected, the device sends an alert, prompting the woman to seek medical attention from the nearest hospital. In the case of a possible stillbirth, Kriya can also detect abnormalities and send an update at least 24 hours earlier.
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta