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News
US maternity clinic raises a US$28m to expand nationally
Oula plans to expand its hybrid care approach and launch new services for those in their reproductive years

The US maternity care clinic Oula has raised a US$28m in funding to introduce new services and expand nationally.
Oula aims to brings together the best of midwifery and obstetrics to deliver, what the start-up describes as, “whole-person” care.
Since its launch in 2021, the clinic, which can currently be found in three locations in New York City, has focused on providing a better care experience for women, combing modern medicine with a more personalised approach.
Now, with nearly US$50m in total funding, Oula plans to expand its hybrid care approach to more markets beyond New York City and launch new services for those in their reproductive years.
“The power of Oula’s collaborative approach to care is that patients feel seen and heard during a transformative moment in their lives, health systems are able to address the evolving expectations of their communities and we can move the needle on unacceptable outcomes and disparities in maternal care,” explained Adrianne Nickerson, co-founder and CEO and of Oula.
Elaine Purcell, co-founder and COO of Oula, said: “We’ve not only proven that this model works, but that it’s what patients from all backgrounds, birth preferences, and income levels are looking for.
“Whether you can afford concierge care or are on Medicaid, we are building a modern and compassionate pregnancy care model that delivers better outcomes than the system has proven to do. We deserve better and yes, you can have it all.”
Clara Sieg, partner and founding member at Revolution Ventures, which co-led the funding round alongside Maverick Ventures, said: “Pregnancy outcomes in the US have consistently deteriorated over the past two decades.
“Oula is solving this mounting crisis by reimagining the maternal experience with midwifery-first, team-based care supported by virtual wrap-around services and a tech-enabled platform.
“We are excited to partner with the team as Oula scales its care model and empowers women to receive personalised, trusted support throughout pregnancy.”
David Singer of Maverick Ventures, added: “We are thrilled to back a company that effectively aligns the needs of mothers, health systems and payers, and breaks the false binary between unmedicalised and hypermedicalised care.”
Instead of waiting for the standard eight-week ultrasound, Oula allows patients to book an appointment as soon as their positive pregnancy test, supporting patients in the postpartum period.
The clinic also plans to introduce pre-conception coaching visits and expanded miscarriage support options in the coming year.
Joanne Schneider, Oula’s chief experience officer, said: “Oula is distinct in the pregnancy landscape today not only in redesigning the standard pregnancy and birth experience, but also in filling the gaps where the medical system typically fails patients: early pregnancy care and postpartum. Even when there aren’t any medical needs, these are times when people need emotional support.
She added: “Miscarriages are extremely common, so I was shocked at how isolated I felt when I had my own miscarriage. It’s not considered a big deal medically, but it’s a very big deal when you are going through it.”
Pregnancy
New reporting tool targets maternal-fetal teams as pregnancy complexity rises

A new reporting tool built specifically for obstetrics and maternal-fetal medicine has launched, aimed at teams managing increasingly complex pregnancies with limited time and resources.
Trice Imaging has released Trice Workspace Reporting, which connects imaging, reporting and longitudinal patient data in a single workflow to support faster clinical decision making.
Birth rates are falling worldwide, but pregnancies are getting more complicated. Advanced maternal age, IVF-assisted pregnancies, rising obesity rates and a higher prevalence of hypertension and diabetes mean more cases now require specialist monitoring, advanced imaging and multidisciplinary care.
At the same time, clinical teams are stretched and facing growing administrative demands.
Trice Workspace Reporting brings together customisable reporting, dynamic pregnancy dating and longitudinal patient history with an AI-ready, EHR-interoperable infrastructure, all inside the company’s Tricefy image management platform.
The company says it aims to accelerate standardised and synchronised report turnaround, support timely clinical decisions and improve operational efficiency for fetal medicine services.
“Maternal fetal medicine teams are managing increasingly complex pregnancies while being asked to do more with limited time and resources,” said Mark A. Samii, chief revenue officer at Trice Imaging.
“Trice Workspace Reporting is designed to remove unnecessary friction from reporting by creating a structured digital foundation that supports today’s need for connected clinical workflows.
“It also provides a digital foundation as practices prepare for tomorrow and the evolution of AI-enabled fetal assessment, anomaly detection and outcome prediction technologies.”
Trice Imaging describes its mission as transforming the women’s health journey by connecting physicians, patients and healthcare systems. From independent practices to large hospital ecosystems, it aims to reach the entire women’s health continuum, spanning IVF and reproductive health, maternal-fetal medicine and OB/GYN, and onwards to lifelong women’s health.
For more than 17 years the firm has worked on cloud-based storage, retrieval, display, organisation and exchange of ultrasound medical images and associated information across health environments.
Its wider platform now extends to dynamic clinical reporting, AI-driven workflow optimisation, data analytics and secure patient engagement.
Trice Imaging holds regulatory and data protection clearances in 40 countries. It has offices in Miami and Stockholm, alongside a growing network of global distributors.
News
Vespexx signs MOU with global femtech network Femtech Across Borders

Vespexx, the femtech company behind couples preconception health platform Soonr, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Femtech Across Borders, a global femtech network supporting women’s health initiatives across 80 countries.
The agreement was signed on June 30 at Korea Femtech Summit 2026, the first global femtech summit held in Korea, hosted by Vespexx.
Femtech Across Borders is a global femtech community led by founder Rachel Bartholomew, who entered the field after her own battle with cervical cancer.
The organisation connects women’s health innovators, companies, and institutions worldwide, supporting collaboration across borders.
“For Korean femtech to reach the world, connection with the global community matters more than anything,” said Scarlett Joowon Jung, co-CEO of Vespexx.
“Through our collaboration with Femtech Across Borders, we’ll continue to strengthen our role as a bridge between Korea and the global femtech community.”
Through the MOU, the two parties will work to lower the barriers between Korean and global femtech, raising awareness of women’s health, sharing networks, and exploring future opportunities to collaborate.
Vespexx, in particular, intends to serve as a bridge connecting Korean femtech companies with the global community, widening the path for domestic companies to reach international markets.
The agreement builds on Vespexx’s recent global momentum.
On June 30, the company hosted Korea Femtech Summit 2026, bringing together femtech leaders from Korea and abroad, and used the occasion to announce the launch of Femtech Korea, an industry network that brings Korean femtech companies together and connects them with the world.
The partnership with Femtech Across Borders extends that effort outward, linking Korea’s domestic network to the global community.
Learn more about Vespexx at vespexx.com
Cancer
Postpartum breast cancers may be biologically more aggressive, new study finds

Breast cancer diagnosed within three years of childbirth, especially the first year, may be biologically more aggressive, a study suggests.
The findings add to evidence that postpartum breast cancer may be a distinct form of the disease.
They also suggest the period of greatest biological risk may occur earlier than previously thought.
The study was led by investigators at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr Nimmi Kapoor, associate professor of surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and senior author of the study, said: “We’ve long recognised that breast cancers diagnosed after pregnancy can behave differently, but we haven’t known when that increased risk is biologically strongest.
“Our findings suggest that the first one to three years after childbirth represent an important window when some tumours may have more aggressive characteristics.”
Breast cancer rates among younger women have been rising, and scientists have been investigating whether women having their first child later may help explain some of the trend.
Pregnancy causes major changes in breast tissue. Previous studies have found that cancers diagnosed soon after childbirth are more likely to have aggressive features and worse outcomes.
Researchers have not agreed on how long the period of increased risk lasts. Some studies define postpartum breast cancer as occurring within one or two years of delivery, while others extend the period to five or even 10 years.
To better define the period of risk, the team studied whether tumour biology varied according to the time since a woman’s most recent childbirth.
The study involved 385 women aged 45 or younger with early-stage, hormone receptor-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer who were treated at UCLA between 2011 and 2024.
Hormone receptor-positive cancers grow in response to hormones such as oestrogen or progesterone. HER2-negative cancers do not have unusually high levels of a protein that can promote tumour growth.
Each tumour had been assessed using the Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score, a genomic test that measures the activity of 21 genes linked to the risk of cancer returning and the potential benefit of chemotherapy.
Researchers grouped the women according to the time between their last childbirth and breast cancer diagnosis.
They compared women who had never given birth with those diagnosed at different intervals after childbirth.
The team then examined whether recurrence scores and other tumour features differed between the groups and whether any patterns remained after accounting for factors including age and lymph node status.
Women diagnosed within the first year after childbirth had significantly higher recurrence scores than those who had never given birth.
This suggested biological features associated with a higher risk of the cancer returning.
Scores were also higher, but to a lesser extent, among women diagnosed during the second and third years after delivery.
Women diagnosed within three years of childbirth were nearly three times more likely to fall into a higher recurrence score category than women who had never given birth.
They were also more likely to have higher-grade tumours, meaning their cancer cells appeared more abnormal and potentially more aggressive under a microscope.
Women diagnosed more than three years after childbirth did not show the same consistent increase in recurrence scores.
The findings also suggest that standard clinical measures, including tumour size and whether the cancer has reached the lymph nodes, may not fully capture the differences in this group.
Gene expression testing appeared to identify biological risk that was not always reflected in routine examination of tumour tissue.
The researchers said reproductive history could therefore provide additional context when genomic test results are interpreted in younger patients.
Despite the more aggressive genetic features, women diagnosed within three years of childbirth did not have significantly worse short-term outcomes.
After about four years of follow-up, recurrence and survival rates were similar to those among other patients in the study.
Researchers said one possible explanation was that women with higher-risk tumours received more intensive treatment, including chemotherapy, ovarian function suppression and newer targeted therapies.
The findings also suggest that aggressive tumour biology does not necessarily lead to worse short-term outcomes when patients receive effective treatment.
The researchers said larger studies involving several institutions and longer follow-up periods are needed to confirm the findings.
They added that postpartum status may need greater consideration when breast cancer is assessed and treated in younger women.
Kapoor said: “Our findings suggest that the years immediately following childbirth represent a unique biological window for some breast cancers.
“Understanding why these tumours behave differently may help us better identify patients who need closer monitoring or more tailored treatment approaches.”
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