Plus: EU funds menopause femtech to retain healthcare workers, and gestational diabetes diagnoses rise 60%.
Oura's partnership with Maven on a fertility study integrates wearable technology into women's health research, providing new data for clinicians and researchers. This integration exemplifies a broader trend of femtech companies leveraging technology for personalized health insights, offering new tools for fertility tracking and contraception. Increased gestational hypertension rates across the US, up 73% over eight years, underscore the urgent need for these solutions. Five takes inside, plus a quick-hits roundup.
Gestational hypertension rates in the US increased 73% over eight years. This rise impacts more than one in 10 mothers, with increases across all states, ages, and BMI groups. Femtech operators should note the growing need for solutions addressing maternal health complications.
Read the full story →The EU’s Interreg Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak programme funded a new €1.6 million cross-border initiative. The three-year Next Phase Femtech project will test market-ready menopause technologies from Hormoner på Arbejde, MeWe&You Health, and Minimal App in healthcare settings across Denmark and Sweden until June 2029. This initiative will generate evidence on technology’s role in supporting women experiencing menopause while remaining in demanding clinical roles.
Read the full story →Eligible WHOOP members who are new to Natural Cycles will receive a free 12-month subscription to the NC° app. WHOOP integrated with Natural Cycles to utilize overnight skin temperature data for personalized fertility insights and hormone-free birth control. This integration is available on WHOOP’s MG and 5.0 devices. This partnership indicates WHOOP’s commitment to women’s health, expanding options for fertility tracking and contraception.
Read the full story →One in eight mothers in England now receive a gestational diabetes diagnosis. Diagnoses of the condition rose 60% in five years, increasing from 8% of pregnancies in 2018 to over 12% in 2022. The most significant increases occurred among Asian women (23%) and women in deprived areas (14%). The data indicates persistent disparities in maternal health outcomes for specific populations.
Read the full story →Researchers analyzed health data from over 260,000 women in the UK aged 15-45 who had given birth to develop a new tool for earlier heart disease risk identification. This tool, detailed in JACC: Advances, estimates future heart disease risk, addressing existing gaps in current assessment methods by incorporating factors unique to women like gestational diabetes and PCOS. Integrating this tool into routine postpartum care could enable earlier monitoring and intervention for higher-risk patients.
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