Mommy Monitor

In 2017 everyday 810 women died from preventable pregnancy and childbirth related causes, with Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia accounting for 86% of the global maternal deaths.

Similar, in North America Black women/birthing people have consistently experienced an almost 4-times greater risk of death from pregnancy complications in comparison to White women (5x for Black women/birthing people over the age of 30). This is regardless of social economic status or education and can be life threatening due to misinformation, lack of access, lack of social support and a lack of culturally informed care- which leads to bad health care experiences and worse health outcomes. A study exploring Black-White disparities in the US and Canada, concluded that 8.9% of infants born to Black women were preterm, as compared with 5.9% of infants born to White women. Black mothers tend to have shorter pregnancies, leaving them at a higher risk of having a pre-term birth, while also receiving lower quality care, revealing Black infants to be 3x more likely to die when cared for by white doctors. Health care professionals should be attentive to the pain symptoms of Black women/birthing people because they could be an indication of labour, but instead Black women are ignored, offered less pain medication if any at all and their experience is not acknowledged.

Black women/birthing people are more likely to have severe maternal morbidity and pregnancy related deaths associated to Cardiomyopathy, thrombotic pulmonary embolism, and hypertensive disorders.  They are similarly prone to have maternal health complications including being 3x more likely to have fibroids (which can cause postpartum hemorrhaging), display signs of preeclampsia earlier in pregnancy and experience ‘weathering’ (their bodies age faster than white women due to exposure to chronic stress connected to socioeconomic disadvantage and discrimination over a life course). These outcomes do not change for Black 

women that have a higher income, or advanced education. Research has shown that pregnancy-related mortality ratio (PRMR) for Black women with at least a college degree was still 5.2 x that of their white counterparts.  Risk is increased as they try to navigate their roles as parents, their economic capabilities, the lack of care services and professionals that can provide appropriate support, and cultural, ethnic or religious responsibilities that shape their decisions. These factors that intersect with who they are as individuals affect their mental health at every point of their full experience. Black mothers and birthing persons are commonly in situations where they experience increased stress and anxiety due to the various factors that they face daily (ex; not having social support, having too many people depend on them, precarious employment and unfair pay, racism at all intersects of life, etc.). Social arrangements and institutions, such as education, social care, and work have a huge impact on the opportunities that empower or disempower people. Risk and protective factors act at several different levels and the social determinants of health approach requires action across multiple sectors and levels. A positive difference to maternal health outcomes can be made when focusing on the community and identifying their needs at each stage. Strategies to improve maternal health must be linked to broader development goals, including poverty reduction and gender empowerment, and an emphasis on communities being at the heart of action on the social determinants at every life stage---specifically during pregnancy and birth.

The solution is Mommy Monitor- a care access platform that connects health care institutions, providers and pregnant persons to a diverse range of culturally safe maternal health services and supports. Our platform provides customized care and support before, during and post pregnancy with a full circle of care. Mommy Monitor connects users to various maternal care professionals from various backgrounds and expertise’s + prenatal & postnatal care plans based on assessments and recommendations to improve health outcomes and care experiences. 

How we work

We are a maternal health platform that provides access to a variety of customized support pre/postnatal on demand or for a set number of hours. We are connecting maternal health professionals from diverse backgrounds to moms/birthing persons that are able to understand and serve diverse populations .  Services can be offered through phone call, or video conferencing.

Moms/Birthing persons register for the service, choose a plan, tell us what  you need, choose the type of services & professional you want to work with, and specify any cultural preferences (E.g., language, ethnicity, religion, LGBTQ2+ family, etc). We assess your needs further, make recommendations for your Maternal Care Plan and then you begin using the services.

Health care institutions such as birth centres, hospitals, community health clinics and private practices, are provided access to our platform to support the patients in their spaces.  >span class="JsGRdQ white-space-prewrap">  institution by offering continuous care for patients,  follow up support, monitoring and evaluation, and identifying any needs or cultural experiences that are connected to the health outcomes of your patient.  We are a service that can be added onto what you currently offer, to support you in creating an inclusive, culturally safe environment and improving health outcomes.

Our Maternal Care Plan combines and organizes maternal care services that are offered. The Maternal Care Plan is developed after the needs assessment is conducted with our Maternal Care Navigators. The Maternal Care Package shows you which care providers are working with you, the type of services you have requested and services we are recommending to you. Your care services are organized to provide you with the best possible care outcomes.

Our Maternal Care professionals include various experts  from the maternal health sector. Our professionals are from diverse backgrounds and share experiences that give them the ability to understand what patients need and want. Our maternal care professionals understand and can be  sensitive to different identities and cultures , which greatly impacts health outcomes and  the experience of cultural safety. 

We prioritize Black pregnant persons and parents as the main target population we serve. And we also serve other racialized pregnant persons that need support and seek our services. As we mentioned earlier, Black women and pregnant persons in North America, Europe and other locations globally are disproportionately impacted by maternal mortality and morbidity. In Canada, maternal health care is generalized and does not meet the needs of Black women/birthing persons causing them to experience life threatening complications or death. This is due to maternal health care that is not culturally safe, a lack of access to information/education, and a lack of social support for these black families. For maternal care providers/institutions there is a limitation in their ability to provide quality assurance in maternal care, an inability to provide consistent follow up care and limitations to their ability to ensure care is culturally appropriate and safe for patients. Globally, data has shown us there are challenges with infrastructures, social determinants of health (many of the social factors we listed about Black pregnant persons/women in North America), and many other barriers that lead them to be impacted with adverse outcomes. Our solution aims to use our model of virtual care in various contexts and use the tools, resources and community to increase access to equitable perinatal care and support. Mommy Monitor will assess patient needs and provide access to prenatal/postnatal education/information and connects parents with maternal health professionals from various fields that are trained to provide culturally safe support and care. A platform that fills in the gap for maternal care providers/institutions and supports patients  to ensure that they receive a full circle of care that is truly patient centred. 

Our organization’s is led by all Black women, and we have been developing a community of Black mothers/birthing persons and Black clinicians/birth workers that create access and opportunity for culturally safe support. The policies, activities and practices are based on the guidance of the Anti-Black Racism framework, identifying the barriers to access and programs that serve parents in the black community. We have worked collaboratively with various organizations and institutions in various sectors (i.e., Ryerson Midwifery, Black Physicians Association, etc.). We are mandated towards building capacity within the Black community in Canada, while offering programs and services that promote equity, magnetize diversity and is a clear representation of inclusivity. To ensure that we remain committed to the mandate of our organization, we make an effort to have a team that is majority Black women/persons, we search for Black health care professionals and birth workers that can work with our community, and our advisors and partners are all committed to joining us in our efforts to reduce maternal health inequities for Black women/birthing persons. 

Founder/CEO of Mommy Monitor, Elsie Amoako is an Ashoka Fellow, a graduate student and has worked in research for over 10 years. She has also founded the Racialized Maternal Health Conference, and has been the recipient of several awards and funding (including the Centre of Social Innovation Agent of change award, WeWork creators award, Startup Canadas Women's Founders Award, Women Leaders in Digital Health Canada award, etc.) and continues to be recognized as a rising leader in racialized maternal health. She has also been a part of various accelerators like the Next36, Google Start up Black founder’s accelerator, Health Innovation Hub, 1863 ventures, UTEST and others.  She continues to dedicate herself to solving health disparities and inequities that disparage the Black community.

Other team members include: 

Our Operations/Research Manager, Efrah Yusuf is a PhD candidate in biomedical sciences Azem Cetiner- Mommy Monitor lead developer- computer science degree; Shani Robertson- midwife & public health consultant-clinical lead at Mommy Monitor.

We are applying for the following reasons:

- Financials: Our start up is a social enterprise and we have been limited with the funding we can receive from VCs, the government or other funding bodies because of the type of startup we are and our focus on Black perinatal/maternal health. The limited funding limits our ability to retain team members and function with all of the assets needed to build our capacity. 

- Technology: We have not been able to hire the type of developers needed to build our technology or identify the right type of mentors to support as advisors.

-We are currently rebranding our startup and structuring the governance of the startup. Therefore, for the next 6 months we are prioritizing:

-hiring new staff and consultants

-full rebrand

-launch of app after rebrand

- governance 

This is not a barrier, but an opportunity to include information and gain more guidance/insight as we enhance our brand. 

There are other apps and technologies are focused on women's reproductive and maternal health like Mahmee, loom, Maven, Mirvie & clinical care. However, what makes us unique is our: 

• focus on Black women/pregnant persons
• tailored care (Full Circle of Care model we enhanced)
• special attention to cultural safety
• maternal navigator (that follows care throughout the experience like a case worker)
• focus on social determinants of health & their impact on health in combination with clinical care (providing education and social support options)
• data protection solutions based in Data Justice and mandated to reduce harm against Black persons
• transglobal care & ability to work with any system/government or institution 

We believe it will change how we view perinatal/maternal care globally, how we use virtual care for perinatal/maternal health, how care can become more cost effective and the way we can cross borders by offering transnational perinatal care.

Impact statement

Black women/pregnant persons in Canada and globally experience equitable, safe, anti-racist and have enjoyable maternal health care services and health outcomes rooted in reproductive justice and rights. This is provided through a customized, full circle of care that is easily accessible and sustainable, in addition to building capacity through with education, research, polices and social supports. 

Intermediate outcomes (1-5 years)

• Systems change in maternal health care services in Canada through policy engagement
  • Research exploring the maternal health experiences of Black women in Canada
  • Petition
  • Policies for free doula care and pelvic floor therapy for black mothers (or those with a low income) (similar to models in New York and France)
• The development of a coalition (Black maternal health caucus) to engage and organize other organizations and health care professionals 
• Development of research & data science institute 
  • Publishing 100+ papers (by our research team) 
• Developing the only Black led doula training program that will include accreditation from a Canadian university and build capacity within the Black community by offering training for free for black women
• Partnerships with hospitals & birth centers to refer patients to Mommy Monitor
  • Referral system for birth centres developed with technology platform 
• Global conference series for Black Maternal, Reproductive and Infant Health
• Current database including all black birth workers and clinicians in maternal health sector in Canada
• Launch of book about the history of Black maternal health in Canada 
• Innovation team creating 1-2 products 
• Technology for clinicians to anticipate pregnancy complications before they occur completed 
• Website and social media recognized as main tools for education/information for black parents globally
• Growth with team and increased services and access to professionals
• Mixing the virtual with an in person maternal care clinic providing all services (including birth justice workshops)

Goals 3, 5 and 10 are all indicators that will assist us as we measure the impact of our outcomes.

Other measures of impact include monitoring and ongoing evaluation of all services (pre & post use); engagement of our workshops, social media, website and conference; # of people using our services and # of health professionals working with us.

Our Vision

A world where all Black women/pregnant persons have healthy, safe and enjoyable pregnancies and birth outcomes.

Intermediate outcomes (1-5 years) (Same as above)

• Systems change in maternal health care services in Canada through policy engagement
  • Research exploring the maternal health experiences of Black women in Canada
  • Petition
  • Policies for free doula care and pelvic floor therapy for black mothers (or those with a low income) (similar to models in New York and France)
• The development of a coalition (Black maternal health caucus) to engage and organize other organizations and health care professionals 
• Development of research & data science institute 
  • Publishing 100+ papers (by our research team) 
• Developing the only Black led doula training program that will include accreditation from a Canadian university and build capacity within the Black community by offering training for free for black women
• Partnerships with hospitals & birth centers to refer patients to Mommy Monitor
  • Referral system for birth centres developed with technology platform 
• Global conference series for Black Maternal, Reproductive and Infant Health
• Current database including all black birth workers and clinicians in maternal health sector in Canada
• Launch of book about the history of Black maternal health in Canada 
• Innovation team creating 1-2 products 
• Technology for clinicians to anticipate pregnancy complications before they occur completed 
• Website and social media recognized as main tools for education/information for black parents globally
• Growth with team and increased services and access to professionals
• Mixing the virtual with an in person maternal care clinic providing all services (including birth justice workshops)

Long term outcomes (5-10 years)

• Model of care instituted into hospitals, birth centres and community health centres throughout Canada 
• Scale globally in US, UK and countries in Africa & effect health care systems and infrastructures in those spaces
• Recommendation presented & instituted by the World Health organization Maternal Health Unit on New guidelines for maternal care solutions to reduce mortality and morbidity
• Evidence of reduced maternal mortality and morbidity of Black women due to the use of our model of care 
• Receiving the Lasker Award & Nobel Prize

Outputs

• Mommy Monitor builds strong teams to execute various activities and projects
• Community champions and champions within institutions or government are identified and relationships are developed to support policy efforts, program development, and funding opportunities globally

Inputs

• Partnerships with governments and Ministries of Health, communities and academic institutions
• Financial support/funding long term
• Volunteer and community support 

We are building a web app (to ensure it is accessible to all people) that analyzes patient data (based on social factors), provides them with the option to book any type of maternal care services they want/need (they can also filter their preferences to find the most optimal/culturally safe care provider), uses the data to develop a maternal care package (Services provided and managed for each patient) according to the data and the decisions made by the patient. We also assist our care providers to manage their patients and engage with them safely. 

Mommy Monitor is built on the foundation of anti-Black racism, reproductive & birth justice, and cultural safety. our work is based on the core understanding that the social determinants of health is a direct contributor to the overall health of Black women and their families. For generations many experts have determined the importance of having an intersectional approach in understanding the experiences of black women. Comprehending the interconnected nature of social categorizations and how an individual may face overlapping discriminations depending on race, gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity, ability, etc. With these lens shaping the foundation of our social enterprise and embedded into our culture, there is less if a need for attempting to include "diversity and inclusion" because it is a part of who we are, and this includes ensuring we remain equitable.

Furthermore, our organization is led by primarily by Black women and we have been developing a community of Black mothers/birthing persons and Black clinicians/birth workers that provide access and opportunity for culturally safe support. Mommy Monitor has worked in partnership with various organizations to support the execution of our activities on an annual basis. We have been mandated towards supporting/serving Black mothers/birthing persons and their families in Canada for the past 3 years (providing services in the past 2 years). 

Mommy Monitor is a social enterprise that offers customized maternal health support and education. We do this in the form of an app, various services , resources (birth plan for black parents, curriculum for training health care professionals/birth workers and our birth justice workshop), podcast ,database of Black health professional and birth workers in Canada, research and our Racialized Maternal Health conference to ensure that maternal health is equitable, anti-racist, patient centered and enjoyable for parents and birth workers/health care professionals. 

Mommy Monitor provides perinatal/maternal care support and services that are customized to meet the needs of each person who use the services. Our clients come directly to us or through referral from their own care provider. We provide access to various maternal care professionals that care culturally safe. We provide services too  care providers and health care institutions that are having challenges serving their Black patients because they don't have the skills to support them.

We are currently contracted with our government to provide services to Black pregnant persons/mothers in Canada. We are creating a model in Canada that allows for us to be contracted by the government like the hospitals or community health centres, so that we can offer free care to the families that use the services. However, as we scale our brand globally the revenue model will change and be a B2B/b2C model- with this we will serve parents directly through our web app and we will offer our API and/or our full services managing the app for health care institutions.

Over three years we have been provided grants for our work by the government and other organizations. In the past two years we have been provided government contracts specifically to provide our care services. Our total funding over this time has been over $600k. The funds have been a great support but also limited to activities the government and funders wanted us to complete. Currently, we are working towards getting core funding from the government for our services in Canada, however, we understand the challenges to achieving this. We have also identified other income generating activities like our conference, consulting (training health care professionals with a curriculum we developed for supporting and caring for Black patients) and new products we plan to retail direct to consumer through our website. We will also generate income through our social media and website. We plan to do this without selling our data to third parties or brokers and protecting our community. We are also preparing to raise funds through social impact investors in the next 4-6 months.