Pregnancy and postnatal wellbeing app, Carea, has launched a service named Carea Connect, which analyses a woman’s wellbeing data to identify when additional support may be beneficial and proactively connects her with the right maternal health expert.
With the launch, Carea becomes UK’s first pregnancy and postpartum app to offer integrated access to a broad network of maternal health professionals within a single platform and the first globally to use tracked wellbeing data to guide women towards specialist support.
The feature tracks changes in mood, emotional wellbeing, physical recovery, baby feeding and sleep over time, helping identify when additional support may be beneficial.
While many pregnancy, postpartum and health-tracking apps allow women to log symptoms, they often leave users to interpret the data themselves and decide whether to seek support, adding to the mental load during pregnancy and early motherhood.
Carea is changing this by proactively connecting women with relevant specialists based on the symptoms and information they track.
Women can also explore Carea’s expert network of trusted experts themselves, enabling them to find and request support at any stage of pregnancy or throughout the postpartum period.
Once a woman reaches out to her chosen practitioner, they’re guaranteed a response within 24 to 48 hours to arrange a consultation. This commitment to fast response times helps women access trusted support sooner, when timing matters most.
The perinatal period, spanning pregnancy and the first year after birth, is a time of increased vulnerability to mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psychosis.
Around one in four women in England experience a perinatal mental health problem, affecting an estimated 130,000 women each year. Suicide remains the leading cause of maternal death between six and 52 weeks after birth.
Research from the Maternal Mental Health Alliance shows some women can wait up to a year for mental health treatment, while more than 30,000 pregnant women are estimated to be on NHS mental health waiting lists at any one time.
If a woman using Carea regularly tracks persistent low mood or sadness, the app identifies the pattern and recommends speaking to a relevant specialist.
At launch, the network includes ten trusted specialists covering independent midwifery, lactation consultancy, perinatal mental health counselling, mindfulness and breathwork, pregnancy and postpartum coaching, baby feeding support and infant sleep expertise, with more professionals set to join the platform over time.
Founder and chief executive officer of Carea, Anastasia Shubareva-Epshtein said: “I built Carea because I experienced antenatal depression during both of my pregnancies. I know first-hand how frightening it can be to recognise that something is wrong yet have no idea where to turn for help. Through Carea Connect, we are removing as many barriers as possible between a woman recognising she needs support and actually receiving it.”
Practitioners available through Carea Connect have joined the platform because they share Carea’s commitment to ensuring women can access trusted, specialist support when they need it most.
A mental health counsellor available through Carea Connect, Nicky Kantura said: “I’m excited to be partnering with Carea because I believe that no woman should have to struggle alone. Reaching out for support can feel like a big step, particularly during pregnancy, after birth, or following pregnancy or infant loss. By working with Carea, I hope to help more women access specialist maternal mental health support and feel understood, supported and empowered throughout their journey.”
