Millie, a women’s health clinic, launched a new AI agent on Tuesday that aims to provide more personalized support in maternity care.
San Francisco-based Millie offers miscarriage management, lactation support, mental health counseling, prenatal education, postpartum support groups and gynecological care. It has a collaborative care model that includes midwives, doulas and physicians, and care is provided virtually via its app and in physical clinics. The company partners with health systems and accepts commercial health plans and Medicaid.
Its new AI tool, called Maia, is integrated with Millie’s patient-facing mobile app. It answers patients’ routine questions about maternity care, makes appointments and provides reminders about pregnancy care. It also tailors conversations to the patient by remembering past interactions and learning communication preferences. In addition, if it identifies an issue with the patient, it will escalate it so that Millie clinicians can provide timely care.
“Maia is a natural extension of our core mission to provide better maternity care through a more complete, proactive, and right-sized model that removes unnecessary stress and friction in the patient journey. … Oftentimes, women are left without ample support through pregnancy – Maia aims to erase that narrative,” said Anu Sharma, founder and CEO of Millie, in an email. “Tapping into the next generation of personalized, always-on maternity support, built with patient safety, data privacy, and clinical quality at its core.”
Maia builds on some of Millie’s existing capabilities, such as the ability to call 24/7, ambient charting, app-based health screenings and connected blood pressure cuffs, Sharma added.
The launch of this tool comes as the U.S. faces a maternal health crisis. The U.S. has the highest rate of maternal deaths of any high-income nation. The U.S. is also experiencing significant OBGYN provider shortages and Medicaid cuts, which are exacerbating issues.
By introducing Maia, Millie aims to make a difference on these challenges.
“Our goal with Maia and AI-enablement more generally is two-fold: To create a better patient-to-provider interaction model so care feels more empathetic and seamless [and] to empower our clinical and operations teams with more real-time insight in a way that integrates with their workflows, so they can better support patients,” Sharma said.
This announcement comes shortly after Millie launched a perimenopause and menopause program in September. It offers access to hormone therapy, non-hormonal medications, vaginal treatments and lifestyle strategies for symptom relief.
Millie isn’t the only maternal health clinic out there. Companies that offer similar services include Pomelo Care, Mae and Maven Clinic.
Photo: Natali_Mis, Getty Images
