Advantages

There's been an increase of women in the US calling for a better healthcare system personalized towards their needs with less male bias. It has led to a rise in consumer interest in Telehealth services with digital health tracking, management, and care that leverages more female-powered data than previously reported in medical research. Femtech is one branch of telehealth that aims to empower women's health and well-being. The advantages to an increase in femtech include an embrace of self-care, a broader range of healthcare accessibility to things like birth control, education, and personalized health information, normalized female-specific conversations, increased data for women's health overall, and faster detection of debilitating illnesses such as breast cancer. Femtech is particularly helpful in a Post-Roe USA climate, as companies are working on creating virtual abortion clinics and virtual abortion care.

How it works

There are many different product types within femtech, such as various apps and software, diagnostics, devices, services, drugs, vitamins, supplements, consumer products, telehealth, and digital platforms. The most popular of these products are tracking apps, which women can use to track their periods, fertility, sexual health, and pregnancy. Wearable devices can also connect to these tracking apps to control hidden breast bumps or track your ovulation cycle, fertility, and pelvic floor health, among other things. Other options can deliver various medications to your doorstep, such as birth control, plan B, and abortion pills. 

The Facts

Femtech has become the solution for women across the board. Some examples of digital platforms are Clue or Flo, mobile apps that help women track their cycles, fertility, and predictions. Allara or Maven, digital healthcare platforms, are tailored to help women with fertility and maternity needs. Daye or Nurx are deliverable services that provide feminine care products, testing, vitamins, and more at the touch of digital access. Some of these femtech options offer free trials; some accept health insurance and out-of-pocket planning. Notably, they provide women with information and access to services they may not have been able to gain access to before.

Helpful tips

Femtech products for women's health can provide access to a virtual community, convenient tips for tracking irregularities and windows of fertility, and information to understand your cycle. Women should update their birth control and methods accurately and accordingly. If access to health care is not an option, femtech resources may provide emergency contraceptives and birth control.