Virtual obstetric care platform Babyscripts announced Monday it has raised $12 million in Series B funding.

The round was led by MemorialCare Innovation Fund with participation from Philips and the CU Healthcare Innovation Fund.

“The pandemic exacerbated existing disparities in maternal health, while showcasing the effectiveness of digital tools for managing pregnancy and equalizing care,” Caleb Winder, managing director of MemorialCare Innovation Fund, said in a statement.

“Babyscripts improves access to care for patients and reduces cost for the health system and insurance plan by connecting payer, provider and patient together through its virtual platform, managing patient and member health and collecting and communicating actionable data around risk with the goal of reducing maternal mortality and morbidity.”

WHAT IT DOES

Babyscripts provides an app, remote monitoring and educational content to help obstetricians manage pregnancies virtually, automate some work and catch potential health problems.

Juan Pablo Segura, the company’s president and cofounder, said virtual care technology can help to solve some of the country’s serious shortcomings when it comes to maternal healthcare. 

Maternal mortality in the U.S. worsened between 2018 and 2019. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the maternal mortality rate was 20.1 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2019, significantly higher than the 17.4 rate in 2018. 

And obstetricians are stretched thin. A 2019 study by Doximity found 35% of OB-GYNs were at least 55 years old, and many faced increasing workloads. In 2017, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists estimated about half of U.S. counties lacked a single OB-GYN.

“In the U.S., we have an access to care crisis,” Segura said.

WHAT IT’S FOR

Babyscripts plans to use the capital to expand its services to providers across the U.S. and develop more offerings for payers. The company has now managed 200,000 pregnancies across 30 states.

Segura said allowing all stakeholders – from patients and public health departments to providers and payers – to use one platform could solve care coordination and data sharing problems.

“We think one of the biggest challenges that exists in helping pregnant people in this country is that there are 15 different stakeholders that are trying to do their own intervention, their own solution, and no one works with each other,” he said.

MARKET SNAPSHOT

In August, Babyscripts partnered with Privia Health, allowing physicians in Privia’s women’s health division to use Babyscripts with their pregnant and postpartum patients. The company entered into several partnerships in 2019, including with AmeriHealth Caritas DC and Penn Medicine.

The Series B financing builds on a $4 million raise from late 2020. 

Though femtech still makes up a small part of overall digital health investment, it’s a growing sector. According to Frost & Sullivan, the global femtech market is expected to reach $1.15 billion by 2025.