Prenatal Peace of Mind

November 11, 2019

by: Kate Norman, Bridges for Peace

The time it takes to grow a little life inside a woman’s belly can often cause stress that makes parents’ hearts skip a beat. That’s why an Israeli biomedical engineer—and father who underwent the stress of going back and forth to doctor appointments with his pregnant wife to monitor their unborn child’s health—cofounded HeraMED, a medical/technological startup company that is seeking to make those nine months a little more peaceful.

The start-up developed HeraBEAT, an at-home fetal heartbeat monitor that connects to users’ smartphones to allow soon-to-be parents to monitor their baby’s heartbeats from home and even send the results securely to their healthcare providers. The device is simple to use, according to David Groberman, cofounder of HeraMED. “It’s like Waze [a navigation app] for pregnant women,” he told Israel21c. “She starts with the device on her belly button and we guide her step by step where to move the device. In seconds to several minutes—depending on the size and position of the baby—she’ll find the spot and then the device switches automatically from search to measurement mode.”

The goal is to make pregnancy, especially for low risk patients, less medical and smoother to navigate, “reshaping how women and physicians cooperate,” Groberman said. The monitor is currently undergoing testing at the Mayo Clinic, one of HeraMED’s shareholders, as well as clinical trials in Israel, Australia, the UK and the US. “Our vision is to lead a revolution in pregnancy care, offering a future of home-based, continuous and insightful monitoring, changing today’s obsolete standards to a future of better care at lower cost.”

Photo Credit: HQuality/shutterstock.com