In a time where maternal health outcomes in the United States lag behind other high-income countries, one startup is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to create a more equitable and accessible system of care. Delfina Care, founded by Dr. Senan Ebrahim, MD, PhD; Priyanka Vaidya, MBA; and Dr. Ali Ebrahim, PhD, is on a mission to revolutionize pregnancy care and improve health outcomes for expectant mothers across the nation — and the world.
A Personal Journey Sparks Innovation
The inspiration for Delfina Care came from Dr. Ebrahim’s personal experience when his wife contracted COVID-19 early in her pregnancy. “At that time, there was very little information on what that meant for her and our baby. Beyond more frequent visits and a planned induction at 39 weeks, there were no clear interventions to help,” said Dr. Ebrahim.
A few months later, the couple rushed to the emergency room based on worrisome symptoms. Armed with the knowledge that one in five pregnancies end in loss, the couple was wracked with fear and racing hearts. Fortunately, exams and monitoring showed no signs of abnormalities.
“That moment of relief sparked the realization that we can and must do better for pregnant patients and families,” said Dr. Ebrahim. The founder set out to provide data-driven clarity for pregnant women throughout their pregnancy as well as during the postpartum period.
Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis Through AI
The United States faces a significant maternal health crisis with more pregnancy-related deaths than other high-income countries. Alarmingly, over 80% of these deaths are preventable with Black pregnant patients facing a mortality rate two to three times higher than their white counterparts.
Delfina Care aims to tackle these challenges head-on by providing a digital platform that delivers a personalized and connected pregnancy care experience. The system collects information from pregnant individuals, their care teams, and monitoring tools to generate helpful insights for better health outcomes.
At the heart of Delfina Care’s innovation is its use of AI to optimize and personalize pregnancy care. The platform’s machine learning (ML) models analyze data to compute the potential benefits of interventions and provide actionable insights to both patients and healthcare providers. These models help clinicians identify which patients could benefit from early interventions, such as lifestyle-based changes like monitoring, diet, and exercise. By focusing clinician attention on the right challenges at the right time, Delfina Care aims to improve outcomes and enhance proactive pregnancy care.
“We are igniting the excitement of possibility with our partners,” explained Dr. Ebrahim. “It’s now possible to radically improve how we take care of patients with our transformative AI-powered technology.”
The platform integrates data from pregnant individuals and their physicians with AI-powered monitoring tools to provide insights for patients. This, in turn, creates a more equitable health care system for the betterment of health outcomes for maternal patients. Patients also receive virtual doula support and telehealth services in addition to their at-home monitoring services.
Challenges and Opportunities in Health Tech
As a clinician scientist venturing into the world of health tech entrepreneurship, Dr. Ebrahim acknowledges the unique challenges of working at the intersection of AI and health care. “We have overriding imperatives in health care that often make us slower than other sectors: informed consent by patients for the use of AI, provider education on the optimal use of the tools, and the security and sanctity of patient data,” he noted.
Despite these challenges, Delfina Care has gained traction through word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied users, including health care providers and patients, such as Baby Adam’s mother, who’ve seen the platform’s life-saving potential firsthand.
The Road Ahead
With initial success under its belt, Delfina Care is setting its sights on broader horizons. The company aims to scale its services from thousands to millions of patients with the immediate goal of measurably improving maternal health outcomes in the United States.
Looking further ahead, Delfina Care envisions playing a significant role in closing the women’s health equity gap worldwide. “Over the next five years, our vision is to play a significant role in closing the broader women’s health equity gap — both in the US and globally. Women often receive less value from the health care system than men, largely due to historical research gaps that excluded women,” explained Dr. Ebrahim. “At Delfina, we see pregnancy as a crucial opportunity to not only improve maternal health outcomes, but also gain insights to support a patient’s long-term cardiovascular, metabolic, and mental health.”
As Delfina Care continues to grow and evolve, it stands at the forefront of a new era in maternal care — one where technology and compassion combine to create a safer, more equitable future for expectant mothers everywhere.