The period before, during, and after pregnancy is one of the most important times in a woman’s life for her body to be getting all of the nutrients it needs. Nutritional deficiency can lead to difficulties in becoming pregnant and an increased risk of labor and postpartum complications, yet 95% of pregnant women are nutritionally deficient. This problem is compounded by the lack of information about what nutrients are important for women. OB-GYN appointments are often too short for women to get all of the answers they need, and much of the guidance available on the internet is outdated or conflicting.
Marma is a mobile app that aims to solve this problem by providing the nutritional information women need during the conception, pregnancy, and postpartum phases of their life. Marma provides personalized, week-by-week information helping users understand what is happening to their body, what is happening to their baby, and what nutrients mothers should be focused on getting. The information provided by the app is created by nutritionists and reviewed by OB-GYNs, and is supplemented by hundreds of recipes that are linked to those nutritional recommendations. In addition to being able to look up this information through the app, users also have the ability to chat with a certified nutrition coach specializing in pregnancy and postpartum nutrition.
What sets Marma apart from other similar services is its focus on the entire pregnancy journey, from fertility through to a year postpartum. Approximately half of women who get pregnant every year download a pregnancy app to support them on their journey, but that support goes away once the baby is born. Marma’s goal is to be a full-spectrum tool for women as they seek to take control of their own health.
Marma is bringing their application to market first through healthcare providers and health systems. They aim to partner with OB-BYNs and midwives who can recommend the app to their patients as a resource to help them during their pregnancy journey. The beta version of the app launched in January, and currently has over 500 users. Through the rest of the year, Marma will be focusing on expanding its user base and adding additional features like push notification reminders and integration with at-home testing kits. Marma also plans to explore insurance cost sharing partners that could allow the company to expand into a B2B2C model.
Meredith Evans McAllister, Co-Founder and CEO of Marma, presented to the KC Digital Drive Health Innovation Team on February 22nd, 2023.