Solve a problem through technology and you got yourself a business. The days of products padding cushioning to a pre-solved problem are behind us.
The 21st-century tech companies are challenging the stereotypes by building products to solve problems that people had difficulty even talking about in the past.
Let’s understand two of the most undermined & overlooked issues women face and how a fem-tech company is helping to solve them.
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Through this article, we will talk about :
A. The core understanding of the issues women face especially during post-partum.
B. The rise of Elvie and its positioning in the Femtech niche. The cultural changes in the past paving the way for Femtech & future possibilities.
C. The future battles Elvie might face.
A. Core Understanding of the Issues/Problem Statement
One in three women experiences pelvic floor problems, like lower back pain, bladder control issues and organ prolapse.
The 9-month journey of women during pregnancy is just the tip of the iceberg. The struggles of the body and physical pain women go through post-partum is immeasurable. On top of that, you can add the societal taboos and stereotypes choking women’s freedom.
To understand how the fem-tech startup secured a $42 million Series B funding, we will have to understand two of the many issues faced by post-partum women.
Urinary incontinence
Inconvenience in using a breast pumping
I. Weakened Pelvic Muscles
The pelvic floor is a set of muscles that surrounds and supports all the organs in the pelvis. During pregnancy and labour, these muscles undergo a huge amount of stress, hence become weak.
Sex, bowel movements and everything associated with pelvic muscles feel overwhelmingly stressful and painful due to post-partum weakness.
II. The tethered breasts
Innovation in the breast pump has been slow and dredging. In a wireless world, breast pump tethers women to a certain place attaching them to tubes and bulky equipment restricting movement and comfort.
A lot of women have felt synonymous with “pumping milk like cows”.
19.2% of infants receive formula supplementation within 2 days of birth.
The issue majorly stems from cultural norms, lack of family support, unsupportive work policies, and lack of parental leave, leading to discontinuing breastfeeding.
There is catering to convenience and there is creating a convenient solution.
The latter technology can lead to societal & cultural change.
B. The Rise of Elvie — femtech
The above-listed issues aren’t new. They have been existent since humans started populating the earth. We have come a long way since then. Surprisingly, fem-tech was inexistent until 2016.
Tania Boler, CEO and Alexander Asseily, Chair with a team of engineers and designers built two products stemming from R&D spanning over 2 years solving the above-discussed issues.
Kegel trainer
You might have already heard about Kegels and how they aid in improving pelvic muscles. The stronger pelvic muscles not only help people to enjoy sex better but can also ease women of post-partum pains.
Elvie Pump
Elvie pump solves the core issues faced by women. It is based on the design principles: Silent, Handsfree, Discreet, Smart, Easy to Use and Not for Cows!
The design mantra emerged by reviewing and analyzing the issues faced by women who pumped. Overcoming the 6 challenges led to Elvie Pump.
Use this, how?
1. Understanding core issues is fundamental to designing a great product. Patience is key when it comes to hardware & technology.
I. Positioning
Elvie pump was launched in Lakme fashion week by a model wearing the working pump while doing her runway walk.
Thus was born, the world’s first silent breast pump.
Elvie aims the product at women who would like to pump during meetings, conferences etc. A YouTube video on Elvie’s page shows a dancer wearing the pump and practising her moves in an empty theatre hall. It portrays the ease and flexibility of use and prowess of the world’s first silent breast pump.
The positioning encourages women to pump anywhere they are. It motivates them to break the taboo and stereotypes associated with breast pumping.
II. Cultural shift Past & Future (possibilities)
Past
1. From doctor-patient relationship to a relationship with self.
The dawn of the internet age has unburdened doctors from answering every little thing. The evolution of user-friendly medical publications like WebMD, Healthline etc has prompted people to trust medical advice available online. It might be best to consult doctors when issues arise, but digital publications rescue users from mild plights. This change has led users to trust technology when it comes to health.
2. Rise of women entrepreneurs and content creators
Femtech was coined in 2016 by Ida Tin, a Danish entrepreneur who founded Clue, a period- and fertility tracking app. In 2015, Femtech start-ups raised about $82 billion in funding from investment firms, about $200 billion goes to Femtech products every year.
The rise of Fem-tech is an opportunity to serve a promising space that hasn’t seen any significant innovation before 2016, it’s new and ripe with opportunities.
Earlier, stereotypes were only addressed by daring ad campaigns by brands. Unfortunately, it is encouraged by women product-centric brands and it happens once a blue moon.
The rise of social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube and a simultaneous increase in Women vloggers and content creators has opened the dialogue wide open. It is not infrequent for women content creators doing a heart to heart with their female following on topics such as body, periods, pregnancy, vaginal health, sex and topics earmarked as taboo by society.
Side Note: I strongly feel that everyone(women & men) should know about issues associated with the post-partum stage. It could help in creating a better world where problems aren’t pushed under the rug.
Share this essay with your favourite person and help them become more empathetic.
Future (Possibilities)
1. A forever goodbye to taboos and stereotypes
If I ask you not to think of a red elephant, what are you thinking?
It’s not unusual to start thinking about something when told not to. The psychological theory which justifies this behaviour is called reactance. It stems from our desire to be free. The “not to think/do” raises a feeling of being locked up, which we desire to escape at all costs.
It is almost impossible to change an opinion using facts. Although, human behaviour can be influenced.
Eg. Meat lovers would never switch to plant meat if attacked based on the logic of environmental & climate issues. But, upon providing an alternative instead of substitution, they just might start eating plant-based meat as well.
I did write an essay on plant meat and how a brand is encouraging adoption throughout the world. You can read it here.
Fem-tech products can lead to the extinction of taboos and stereotypes associated with women by providing the product as an alternative. The silent Elvie pump encourages women to pump anywhere. Breast-pumping wasn’t feasible in public places before, but the freedom to do so could bust open the awkwardness in the dialogue.
C. Challenge
The end of breastfeeding (ethical)
The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to 2 years of age or older. Although, Only 1 in 4 children are breastfed until the recommended age of 6 months and 19.2% of infants receive formula supplementation within 2 days of birth.
The argument shows how breastfeeding is important yet already decreasing despite being a necessity. Technological change tends to make the process of pumping easier, which could ultimately encourage women to pump rather than breastfeed.
Eg. The comfort of connecting digitally has led to fewer human touches every day.
The Femtech companies need to balance the messaging between the importance of breastfeeding and the utilization of the Elvie pump.
Final Note
Activism & campaigns are vehicles of building awareness and creating change. Technology has provided us with an unlimited potential to build products that could ride on activism & campaigns to manifest the much-needed changes in the world.
The protests to fight stereotypes and taboos might take time and consume endurance, but leveraging product & technology in activism to create alternatives could help us win more battles.
See you in the next one!