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How the women’s health wearables battle is heating up
Around one in seven British adults use a smart watch or fitness tracker, with women more likely than men to use a fitness device, according to research from Silicon. But why is it that such devices are more popular amongst women than men? And how are the world’s tech giants adapting to suit this shift? Femtech World reports.
A fitness tracker can compile a variety of data about the wearer’s activities, depending on the complexity of the device. Users can monitor this data with a corresponding app, where they can manually input additional information about themselves and their lifestyle.
As a result, the makers of fitness trackers amass a wealth of data that can be used in many ways. Current privacy policies for many fitness tracking apps allow users’ information to be shared with others. Some researchers are already using data from these apps for health research.
Users have access to fitness, tips and healthcare advice at their fingertips. Women are making the most of trackers – and now, the giants of the tech world are fighting to provide the most useful resources to draw them in.
Here, we investigate how firms are broadening their technology to increase their appeal…
Apple
With Cycle Tracking on Apple Watches with iOS 13 and watchOS 6 or later, women can easily track their menstrual cycle, so they can get a better picture of their health.
This can be done in the Health app on their iPhone or the Cycle Tracking app on an Apple Watch. Notifications can be enabled to tell the user when the next period or fertile window is approaching.
In addition to the information that’s been logged for previous periods and cycle length, Health can use heart rate data from the Apple Watch to improve cycle tracking predictions.
Using heart rate data from Apple Watch to improve predictions is turned on by default, but it can be turned off at any time.
Apple announced early results from its health study in March, which was conducted alongside the University of Michigan School of Public Health. The figures are collected from those who choose to participate via the Research app the company launched back in 2019. This all forms part of Apple’s attempts to take a more serious approach to user health, built, in part, on data collected through the iPhone.
Data was collected from 10,000 participants around the United States with a range of different ages and ethnic backgrounds. Apple and research partner Harvard looked to study the connection between menstrual cycles and a variety of different health conditions, including infertility, polycystic ovary syndrome and perimenopause.
Early results note that symptoms like nausea and sleep changes are common, along with more frequently discussed things like bloating and cramps. The study also shows that many of the tracked symptoms are common and consistent across age, race and location — even though they may not be spoken about. The company says the efforts are, in part, to de-stigmatise discussions around the above.
Fitbit
Like Apple, Fitbit provides menstrual health tracking which includes elements such as helping to predict periods, a user’s estimated fertile window, and more.
The female health tracking feature was added to the watch in May 2018 to allow women to collate data about periods and ovulation alongside the other metrics. According to Fitbit, it was one of the firm’s most requested features
Tracking the cycle can allow the user to gain a better understanding of what’s happening in her body, help them to recognise any recurring irregularities, and identify menstrual patterns linked to everyday activities like sleep and exercise.
The Fitbit app will help to learn about a typical period length, estimated fertile window and ovulation day, and other information related to the cycle. Continuing to log and verify periods will provide more accurate predictions and offer greater insight into menstrual patterns.
Fitbit uses the data provided to estimate predictions, which will take into account the average cycle and period lengths provided during setup, although the period will need to be logged consistently to receive more accurate predictions.
However, in 2018, BBC News reported that women who had signed up to Fitbit’s period tracker have complained that it only allowed them to log periods of 10 days or fewer.
Many women pointed out that they can last much longer, making the tracker on the wearable fitness device useless for many users.
Fitbit confirmed that “currently a period must be less than 11 days”, and that it had asked those concerned to comment and vote on its suggestions board.
Three years later, it is unconfirmed whether the issue had been resolved.
Samsung
In 2020, Samsung took the leap (much delayed behind every other company) and now offers the long-awaited feature: period tracking.
Samsung rolled out an update, version 6.9.0.055, which adds a new women’s health category and allows users to track their menstrual cycles.
The addition of period tracking is part of Samsung’s attempt to make Samsung Health more comprehensive, allowing it to do more than simply monitor activity.
In 2019, Samsung Health added Calm’s meditation, relaxation and sleep services, along with blood-pressure monitoring and stress detection, to its Galaxy Watch Active.
As discussed above, it shows that the companies are meeting with the demand for women’s fitness. Whether it’s trackers designed to fit bodies or tech built to address specific health issues that females face, more and more companies are creating wearables to keep healthy.
Not only are these developments important because they address the needs of the female generation, they make business sense. The rise of ‘femtech’, a term coined by Ida Tin, founder of period tracking app Clue, is big news. The market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 16.2 per cent from 2021 to 2027, and FemTech Analytics reported that, while in 2013 the sector barely totalled US$100m annually, it’s now expected to exceed US$60 billion within the next decade.
Light exercise and less sitting may reduce pregnant women’s risk of serious blood pressure complications, according to a new study.
Researchers have proposed a daily activity and sleep guide that they say was linked to a nearly 30 per cent lower risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
The suggested pattern includes fewer than eight hours of sedentary time, at least seven hours of light physical activity, around 22 minutes of more intense activity and nearly nine hours of sleep.
The University of Iowa-led study examined the daily behaviours of 470 pregnant women across all stages of pregnancy.
Participants wore monitors that measured physical activity over 24-hour periods and recorded how long they spent asleep.
Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy include chronic high blood pressure, gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia.
Gestational hypertension is high blood pressure that develops during pregnancy, while pre-eclampsia is a potentially serious condition involving high blood pressure and signs that organs may be affected.
Sedentary behaviour means being mostly inactive, such as sitting or lying down.
Light physical activity can include casual walking, moving around the home or standing.
Moderate to vigorous activity includes movement such as brisk walking, where breathing and heart rate increase.
Kara Whitaker, associate professor in the department of health, sport, and human physiology at Iowa and corresponding author of the study, said: “We are identifying the optimal composition of movement behaviours across the day associated with the lowest risk of developing HDP and the most improved health outcomes.
“This blueprint holds for each and every trimester of pregnancy.”
Study participants were enrolled at sites in Iowa City, Pittsburgh and Morgantown, West Virginia.
The women wore activity and sleep monitors for at least one week during each trimester of pregnancy.
Four in five participants were non-Hispanic white and nearly a quarter lived in rural areas.
The data showed a steep rise in risk among pregnant women who were sedentary for more than 10 hours a day.
Women who increased light physical activity to at least four hours a day reduced their risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy to 15 per cent from 30 per cent.
Whitaker said: “Just moving around more seems to have significant health benefits.
“And I think it also may be a more feasible target for women who are pregnant who are not exercising regularly.”
The researchers said they were surprised that longer durations of moderate to vigorous physical activity did not appear to provide additional benefit.
Sleep beyond a certain duration also did not appear to bring major further benefits.
Whitaker said: “Through this study, we are providing evidence that reducing sedentary behaviour and engaging in light physical activity are important, and maybe more important, when it comes to pregnancy and health.”
The findings may be relevant beyond pregnancy because clinical research has shown that women who develop hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are more than twice as likely to develop heart disease later in life.
Cardiovascular disease includes conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels, such as heart disease and stroke.
Whitaker said: “We know that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women, and if we can intervene in pregnancy and prevent women from developing a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, we are putting them on a better trajectory, away from cardiovascular disease and toward more optimal cardiovascular health.”
The study was published online on June 10.
A second study, published online on May 27, looked more closely at the ratio and type of sedentary behaviour and light physical activity linked to a lower risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
Whitaker is a lead co-author on that study.
Co-authors in the June 10 study include Alex Crisp, Jaemyung Kim, Karina Smith, Donna Santillan, Mark Santillan and Bridget Zimmerman, from Iowa; Jacob Gallagher, from Iowa State University; Melissa Jones, from Oakland University in Michigan; Bethany Barone Gibbs, Katrina Wilhite, Alexis Thrower and Iqra Sheikh, from West Virginia University; and Sabera Rahman, Janet Catov, Christopher Kline and Maisa Feghali, from the University of Pittsburgh.
The National Institutes of Health, the University of Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, the University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute and the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute funded the research.
We are excited to reveal the winners of the third annual Femtech World Awards.
The winners were announced at a virtual event this afternoon attended by shortlisted companies, along with sponsors and judges.
The event welcomed guests from the UK, Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.
Thank you to all 174 entries, as well as the sponsors for making the event possible.
See you in 2027!
Femtech World Awards 2026 Winners
Winner:
Shortlisted:
IVI RMA x Juno Genetics
Natural Cycles
Winner:
Highly commended:
U-Ploid
Shortlisted:
Hello Inside
Winner:
WISE HF, led by Prof. Mary Ryder
Highly commended:
Cardiac College for Women
Shortlisted:
Hyvelle Ferguson-Davis
CognitiveCare
Winner:
Highly commended:
Youterus
Shortlisted:
ŌURA
Winner:
Shortlisted:
LeanShield by ParrotPal Group
Perigen
Winner:
Shortlisted:
Body Moody
Looop
Winner:
Shortlisted:
Owning Your Menopause
Womeno
Winner:
Shortlisted:
The Blue Box
Celbrea
Winner:
Shortlisted:
HealCycle
Mor
Winner:
Shortlisted:
HRC Fertility
Mira
Pregnant women’s expectations about postpartum sleep may predict sleep quality after birth, outweighing prior sleep and psychiatric history, a study suggests.
The findings suggest attitudes and beliefs about sleep during pregnancy could be a modifiable risk factor for postpartum sleep concerns.
They also indicate that, among women expecting the poorest sleep, higher postpartum anxiety may further worsen sleep quality.
Sammy Dhaliwal, lead author is clinical health psychologist and research fellow in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dhaliwal said: “Most pregnant women in our sample anticipated poor postpartum sleep before it occurred, and it was striking that those expectations predicted worse sleep outcomes even after accounting for factors such as prior sleep disorders, psychiatric history, and number of previous births.
“This suggests that attitudes and beliefs about sleep during pregnancy may represent a modifiable target for early intervention before postpartum sleep problems emerge.”
Sleep disturbance affects an estimated 60 to 80 per cent of postpartum women and is linked to a higher risk of depression and anxiety.
Researchers said it is often regarded as an expected part of life after childbirth rather than a health issue that may be addressed earlier.
The study enrolled 432 pregnant women at about 24 weeks of gestation, meaning around 24 weeks into pregnancy.
Participants completed measures of their expectations about postpartum sleep, current sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and mood using validated depression and anxiety scales.
Assessments were repeated at six, 12 and 24 weeks postpartum.
A subset of 49 women also wore wrist actigraphy devices at six to eight weeks postpartum.
Actigraphy uses a wearable device, similar to a watch, to estimate sleep and wake patterns based on movement.
The results showed that 70 per cent of pregnant women, or 301 of 432 participants, expected poor sleep in the postpartum period.
Researchers found that predicted sleep disruption during pregnancy was a significant predictor of postpartum sleep concerns.
Among first-time pregnant women without prior health concerns, those who expected greater sleep disturbance had significantly more disrupted sleep after birth, measured by both actigraphy and self-report.
Among women who expected the worst sleep quality, higher postpartum anxiety significantly worsened both measured sleep and self-reported sleep, independent of anxiety levels during pregnancy.
Dhaliwal said the findings point to two possible areas for intervention: addressing sleep-related beliefs during pregnancy and treating postpartum anxiety.
Dhaliwal said: “Postpartum sleep disruption is often treated only after problems develop, but our findings suggest there may be an opportunity to intervene earlier during pregnancy.
“Addressing sleep-related beliefs and postpartum anxiety during prenatal and postpartum care may help improve sleep and emotional well-being in new mothers.”
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