Background

In 1960, Norman Morris, an academic and humanitarian, wrote a landmark paper in the Lancet, which proposed a revolution in attitudes within the maternity services. He was highly critical of the lack of care and empathy which prevailed at that time.

He wrote ‘Midwives and Obstetricians have an especial responsibility, for they are there at the beginning, and probably it is the manner of the beginning that matters most of all’.

Philip Steer, his successor as Professor when the Charing Cross Hospital Medical School became the Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School (now part of the Imperial College Faculty of Medicine) has joined Norman’s son (also an obstetrician and gynaecologist) Nick Morris, and technology expert Terry Hook, to plan a ‘Digital Doula*’ to help support and empower pregnant women.

Together with associates, they have formed Caretek medical to develop the ‘Digital Doula’, a smartphone app, which is the subject of this funding appeal. The Caretek Medical Board is chaired by Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, past president of both the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the UK and FIGO, the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics.

The time is right for the Doula 

Caretek Medical is creating a platform to meet the needs of both mothers and healthcare professionals. The Caretek app will give mothers access to healthcare guidelines specifically tailored to their individual characteristics, in an easily understandable format. A summary of risk factors identified will also be available for clinicians (midwives and obstetricians). The app will enable mothers to take personal ownership of their pregnancy data, and at the same time prompt healthcare professionals to follow national/international clinical guidelines. The platform will be self-learning, comprising an App, AI, and cloud-based infrastructure.

The Caretek Medical pregnancy app will revolutionise the delivery of safe, effective and individualised maternity care by empowering and motivating the mothers to maximise their chances of a successful pregnancy. The development of the Caretek Medical app is being supported by senior staff of both the Women’s Health Academic Centre at St Thomas’ Hospital, part of King’s College London (Head of Department, Professor Lucilla Poston CBE) and the Academic Department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, part of Imperial College London (Head of Department, Prof Mark Johnson).

Professor Philip Steer, emeritus Professor at Imperial College London, directs the development of the medical algorithms underlying the app and founder Dr Nicholas Morris directs the maternal interface.

CEO Terry Hook leads the business team of Garry Hirth, Damon Clark, Bryan Foss and others developing the commercial and technology aspects of the business.  

The Problem

For most women, pregnancy is a wonderful experience, but sometimes pregnancy does not progress according to plan. When this happens, women need immediate and factually correct information relevant to what is going on, and whether anything needs to be done about it. Often, reassurance is all that is needed, but occasionally urgent action is necessary and life-saving.

Busy obstetricians and midwives often have insufficient time to deal with such issues promptly, and failures in care are contributing to a growing litigation crisis. In the UK in 2017-18 more than a billion and half pounds was paid out in compensation for errors in maternity care, indicating the scale of the problem.

The Solution

The App and Platform are mother focused, rather than focused primarily on health professionals. It will encourage women not only to store their own pregnancy data but also to compare their progress and care with national and international standards. Key aspects that will be monitored include maternal blood pressure, weight, glucose testing (diabetes), as well as fetal growth and wellbeing. With the mother's permission, the clinician can access (either online or via the App) a dashboard presenting the current risk indicators and an audit trail of information relating to the pregnant woman.

The architecture of the platform allows for the collection of accurate data directly from the user. The algorithms which underline the analysis and interpretation of the data, are unique and result from over 30 years' experience of maternity data collection. The IP will continue to grow as data repositories enable further refinement and addition of algorithms. The IP belongs to Caretek Medical.

The Markets

The markets are global, with an estimation of 141 million births worldwide in 2015- these are 386,000 births every day according to Our Wold in Data and 847k conceptions in 2017 in England and Wales alone according to the Office for National Statistics.

We are currently negotiating to be on approved supplier lists and will negotiate commercial arrangements for licensing the use of our IP.

Market Strategy

Our marketing strategy for promoting the app is initially based on social media outreach, digital marketing, distribution through academic and supporting networks for expectant mothers and word of mouth. We intend targeting networks for pregnant women (e.g. mumsnet) and women who are planning to become pregnant (‘pre-conception’). We have planned a program to access ‘end users’ based on partnership with distributors and manufacturers of both maternity and childcare products. In addition, we have a traditional B2B sales plan for commercial organizations, medical providers and Academia.