These 5 companies are using tech for reproductive healthcare

It would be easy to think that tech has no major role to play in the recently leaked news about the Supreme Court.

In truth, plenty of people are building tech to help users access reproductive healthcare resources, track their cycle and even develop a contraceptive for men. On the other end, cyberattackers are exploiting outrage to get people to click on bad links. With COVID-19 pushing healthtech and virtual care to expand every day, healthcare and technology have myriad ways of working together for users both interested and very much not interested in pregnancy.

Here are five companies using tech for reproductive healthcare:

Advantia Health

Arlington, Virginia’s Advantia Health, which was founded in 2014, focuses exclusively on women and maternal health. During the pandemic, it began offering telemedicine and virtual care for the 450,000 patients that see doctors in its network of OB-GYNs and coordinated specialists. It offers both non-urgent and urgent virtual health options, including discussing gynecological issues, contraception consultations and prescription refills.

Babyscripts

Georgetown-based Babyscripts created a virtual care platform for managing obstetrics. Partnering directly with doctors, the company uses web devices for remote monitoring to help OB-GYNs manage pregnancy virtually and detect risks quicker.

Last fall, the company completed the second close of its Series B, raising an additional $7.5 million and bringing the round total to $19.5 million.

Contraline

This Charlottesville, Virginia company is developing technology for a male contraceptive. Its ADAM product is a hydrogel implant designed to block sperm flow. It is injected in a minimally invasive outpatient procedure and provides long-lasting (but not permanent) birth control for men.

In October, the company raised $10.7 million for human trials of its product, then added another $1 million investment in February.

CycleBeads

DC’s CycleBeads, formerly known as Cycle Technology, created an app and online service to help women and others who experience menstruation track their menstrual cycles. The app identifies which days someone can get pregnant, as well as which days are unlikely to result in pregnancy, for cycles that are 26 to 32 days long (according to a Georgetown University study, the method is 88% to 95% effective, based on use). The app was created to help track the cycle and information that makes the method most effective, whether users want to intentionally plan a pregnancy or prevent it.

TwentyEight Health

While not a DC-local company, TwentyEight Health recently expanded its coverage in DC to include Medicaid. The company hopes to boost access to reproductive and sexual health resources with a focus on underserved communities. It also offers telemedicine and ongoing care in English and Spanish.  With the addition of Medicaid, TwentyEight said it expanded its footprint to the near-300,000 people in DC covered by the federal health insurance program.