Erin Gau, Co-Founder and COO of Charter sat down at The Desk with Dr. Senan Ebrahim, the CEO and Founder of Delfina, to discuss the maternal health crisis in the United States, which has only deepened in the past few years despite the country’s high healthcare spending. Dr. Ebrahim’s journey to founding Delfina was ignited in the emergency room during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the gaps in prenatal support were glaringly evident.
Delfina is attempting to shift the paradigm in prenatal care by introducing an AI-powered platform that offers daily, personalized guidance to pregnant women. This tool helps expectant mothers understand precisely what they need to do daily to ensure the healthiest possible outcomes. Additionally, it provides healthcare providers with real-time data to better manage each pregnancy.
The need for such a platform became obvious to Dr. Ebrahim during his time in the ER, where he saw the consequences of reactive, rather than proactive, healthcare. Delfina’s solution is designed to prevent the emergencies that often arise when issues aren’t addressed until too late in the pregnancy.
One of Delfina’s notable successes includes the story of “Baby Adam,” whose mother used the app to receive culturally relevant, personalized health guidance. This case exemplifies Delfina’s aim to provide tailored healthcare that meets patients exactly where they are, a commitment supported by the platform’s ability to integrate with the work of doulas, midwives, and physicians.
While enthusiastic about AI’s potential, Dr. Ebrahim remains mindful of the limitations of technology. He stresses the importance of maintaining human interaction within healthcare, cautioning against the potential biases in AI and the risk of becoming overly dependent on technology.
Dr. Ebrahim also highlights the role employers can play in supporting pregnant employees. He suggests that HR leaders can make significant impacts by simply reevaluating their existing policies to better support expectant mothers. Simple changes, such as adjusting work schedules, could provide substantial benefits at minimal costs. Dr. Ebrahim recommended HR leaders reassess their existing policies to better support vulnerable demographics by asking, “What am I doing with my existing policies and practices to support vulnerable populations that I may really want to support?”.
As Delfina continues to develop its platform, it provides an important example of how technology, when thoughtfully applied, can significantly improve prenatal care and, by extension, maternal and infant health outcomes across the United States.
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