Yahoo News The wearable that helps pregnant women track contractions in real time
LAS VEGAS — The idea for Bloomlife's pregnancy wearable was born around the same that CEO Eric Dy and his co-founder, COO Julien Penders, were taking their first steps toward parenthood.
"My co-founder's wife got pregnant, all of my friends were getting pregnant, I was trying to have a baby, and we all sort of saw this huge transition that people go through when they decide to have a kid," Dy told Mashable at Tuesday's International CES Unveiled event.
"When you're pregnant, there's all these questions and concerns that are oftentimes very difficult to answer...There's a huge un-met need here for moms to get more information about her pregnancy, to help her decipher what's going on and better understand what's happening, so that she can make more informed decisions."
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So Dy and Penders founded Bloomlife, a company that sells wearables designed to track a pregnant woman's contractions in real time, and to send pregnancy data points to an app on the wearer's smartphone. It serves as what Dy called a valid second opinion for pregnant women experiencing contractions during their third trimesters.
Image: bloomlife
Image: bloomlife
The wearable is a reusable sensor that clips on to a disposable patch. The patch features electrodes that measures electroactivity in the uterus. When an expectant mother has a contraction, the non-invasive electrodes transmit the signal to the wearer's app.
Dy says the data is useful for many types of expectant mothers, from those with high-risk pregnancies who want regular updates to those are simply looking to check-in every now and then with their changing bodies. The data log also gives women a clearer way to discuss pregnancy specifics with their doctors.
After months of beta-testing and clinical trials with more than 500 pregnant women, Bloomlife is now offering its wearables to the public. A connected pregnancy isn't cheap, however — the company's subscription model begins at $149 per month of use. One box comes with the sensor, five disposable patches (each of which last for about 7 days), a charger and and an instruction manual.
And once a wearer's given birth, she can send the sensor back to Bloomlife for a little good recycling karma.
