Menopause specialist Dr Mary Claire Haver has been appointed as the first chief agewell officer at virtual care clinic Midi Health.

In the role, Dr Haver will work with Midi’s clinical team to develop the AgeWell platform, described as a proactive health model that integrates perimenopause and menopausal care with metabolic health, bone density, brain health and cardiovascular risk assessment.

The platform aims to provide preventative care targeting what the company describes as the primary drivers of female mortality and disability: heart disease, bone loss and cognitive decline.

Joanna Strober, chief executive and co-founder of Midi Health, said: “Longevity care has historically ignored women’s biology, especially during the critical windows of midlife and menopause.

“At Midi Health, we are committed to extending healthspan, not just lifespan, and making that care accessible to millions of women as a core pillar of their health.

“By collaborating with Dr Haver, we are ensuring women continue to have access to care designed for their bodies, their hormones, and their real lives.”

Dr Haver is board-certified in obstetrics and gynaecology, a Menopause Society certified practitioner, a certified culinary medicine specialist and an adjunct associate professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at The University of Texas Medical Branch.

After a career in academic medicine, Dr Haver founded The Pause Life, described as a science and education-based resource for women navigating perimenopause and the menopause transition.

Through her books, unPaused podcast and digital platform, she has provided education on midlife health.

Dr Mary Claire Haver said: “I have spent my career advocating for women to receive the science-backed, no-nonsense guidance they deserve.

“I chose to partner with Midi Health because they are the only platform with the scale and medical rigour to deliver the kind of care women deserve, regardless of their zip codes.

“Together, we are setting a new standard for proactive, preventative care that meaningfully extends both lifespan and healthspan for women.”

Women’s Health Week USA 2026 has unveiled its first populated agenda, anchored by an opening keynote from Kate Ryder, Founder and CEO of Maven Clinic, and featuring a cross-sector lineup shaping the next phase of scale in women’s health.

You can view the full agenda here.

Taking place May 13–14, 2026, at the New York Academy of Medicine, Women’s Health Week USA brings together the full women’s health ecosystem to focus on one central question: what does it take to move women’s health from innovation to institutional scale?

Kate Ryder will open Day 1 with a keynote drawing on her experience building Maven Clinic into the world’s largest virtual clinic for women’s and family health.

Under her leadership, Maven has partnered with employers and health plans to deliver care across fertility, maternity, postpartum, paediatrics, and menopause at scale.

Her perspective sets the tone for a program centered on commercialisation, partnership, and sustainable growth.

Beyond the opening keynote, the newly released agenda reflects the sector’s growing maturity.

Across two days, the program features 70+ speakers, with representation from leading organizations including the FDA, Planned Parenthood, CVS Health Ventures, Samsung Next, NIH, WHO, and Maven Clinic.

Sessions span investment and deal flow, clinical innovation, regulation, data and technology, and market expansion, alongside dedicated pitch sessions and curated 1:1 matchmaking designed to turn insight into action.

The agenda has been built to facilitate meaningful connections across the ecosystem, with partnerships positioned as the primary driver of scale.

As women’s health continues to attract institutional capital and global attention, Women’s Health Week USA 2026 offers a clear snapshot of where the market is heading, and who is shaping it.

The full agenda is now live, with additional speakers and partners to be announced in the coming months.

View the full programme here.

Nearly 70 per cent of NHS regions in England fund only one IVF cycle for women under 40, breaking national guidelines, new research has found.

Twenty-nine of the 42 integrated care boards, which control local NHS budgets, now offer only one round of treatment, after four reduced access in the past year.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) guidelines recommend three full cycles for women under 40 who have been unable to conceive for two years.

Only two of England’s 42 integrated care boards have policies consistent with these guidelines, which they are not legally obliged to follow.

The research was conducted by the Progress Educational Trust, a fertility charity.

Sarah Norcross, the director of PET, said the impact was “devastating” for couples struggling with infertility.

She said: “Infertility is already incredibly stressful for people, and it puts them under even more pressure, because there is so much riding on whether that one NHS-funded cycle is going to work.

“And for some people, that will be their only chance, because private fertility treatment is so expensive.”

The data showed regional variations, with the whole of the north-west offering just one cycle.

“It’s a postcode lottery, and we’re seeing a race to the bottom,” said Norcross.

Of the 29 integrated care boards that offer a single cycle, 19 provide only a partial cycle, where not all viable embryos created are transferred.

There was just one recent example of improved services, from NHS South East London, which in July 2024 went from one partial to two full cycles.

The NHS estimates that about one in seven couples may have difficulty achieving a pregnancy. One cycle of IVF can cost from £5,000 at a private clinic.

Fertility rates in England and Wales have fallen since 2010 to 1.41 children per woman in 2024, the lowest on record and below the replacement level of 2.1 at which a population is stable without immigration.

Health minister Karin Smyth said in a written parliamentary answer last month that it was “unacceptable” that access to NHS-funded fertility services varied across the country.

Revised Nice fertility guidelines are due this spring, but Norcross said changing them seemed pointless.

She said: “Fertility treatment has always been a Cinderella service. It’s always been the one they’ve chosen to cut or to ignore.

“Nice has recommended three full NHS-funded cycles, for women under 40, for more than 20 years. This has never been implemented across England, unlike in Scotland.”

Norcross advocated centralised commissioning and replicating Scotland’s approach, which included financial modelling and a phased implementation starting with two cycles to avoid long waits, moving up to three once capacity was achieved.

“It is a tried and tested plan that England could follow,” Norcross added.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We recognise access to fertility treatment varies across the country and we are working with the NHS to improve consistency.

“Nice provides clear clinical guidelines, and we expect integrated care boards to commission treatment in line with these.

“Updated Nice fertility guidelines are expected this spring and we will continue to support NHS England to make sure the guidance is fully considered in local commissioning decisions.”

An NHS England spokesperson said: “These clinical services are commissioned by integrated care boards for their area based on the needs of the local population and prioritisation of resources available.

“All ICBs have a responsibility to ensure services are provided fairly and are accessible by different population groups.”