Perinatal mental health (PMH) problems, particularly anxiety, depression and fear of childbirth (FOC), affect expectant mothers, families, and societies worldwide in devastating ways, through pregnancy and birth complications, issues with mother-infant bonding, and declining birth rate, to name but a few. Sadly, these problems go often undiagnosed and untreated.
Natal Mind delivers accessible, preventive mental health and birth preparation support. With the virtual doula, midwife and psychotherapist Natalie the app provides clinically backed birth education, pain management tools, communication support and psychological exercises to reduce stress and improve trust and self-efficacy.
The app is based on the validated methods from the Nordic maternity care and the emotion tracking algorithm developed at Aalto University. The proof-of-concept application has already shown clinical evidence in reducing fear of childbirth and birth complications, and in the future, it can work as a biomarker for perinatal mental health problems.
The team is targeting emerging markets, particularly in Africa, where gaps in mental health and maternal care access remain significant, and where there is a growing demand for scalable, accessible healthcare tools.
Aalto University introduces 12 new world-changing innovations at Slush. On of them is digital doula Natal Mind, a mobile app designed to support the emotional and mental journey undergone by mothers-to-be.
The Natal Mind research team won the Polar Bear Pitching competition last weekend in Oulu. Obstetrician Aura Pyykönen tells us what it was like to pitch in the ice-cold water. Annika Järvelin, Riikka Lemmetyinen and Henni Tenhunen are other members of the winning team at Aalto Department of Industrial Engineering and Management.
