Technology to Improve Maternal Health

Rates of MMM in the U.S. continue to rise, with Black, Indigenous, and other people of color facing significantly higher risks than a white birthing person. African American/Black and American Indian/Alaska Natives are two to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes compared to whites. The workshop, titled "Technology to Improve Maternal Health," hosted by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), is a part of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative, which supports research to reduce preventable causes of maternal deaths and improve health for birthing people before, during, and after delivery.

Over the past few years, developments in point-of-care, imaging, genetic, and machine learning technologies have led to advances in femtech (for female technology), in particular identifying MMM risk and facilitating access to treatments. This includes the identification of biomarkers for biological and behavioral states relevant to disease prevention and identification. Additionally, remote clinical decision support and patient-provider interface tools have gained acceptance and popularity in femtech.

Social determinants of health (SDoH) are the conditions where we are born, live, and work including the risk factors that inherently create and sustain health disparities within the U.S., such as MMM (Healthy People, 2030). SDoH are imperative to consider when developing potential interventions to improve maternal health. Novel technologies translated to consumer and medical products can provide solutions to these problems, increase health equity, and save lives. However, this translation requires an interdisciplinary approach. Small innovative businesses, including those with roots in their communities, are an untapped translational resource for clinical technology development. Collaborations with clinical and academic researchers, industry, business, and community partners may provide sustainable technology translation through NIH small business mechanisms. This gap represents a potential market that could be beneficial for small businesses and the community. The Technology to Improve Maternal Health workshop aims to provide technology landscape analysis, determine challenges of technology translation, and identify insufficient linkages to clinical care innovations.