IN OUR HEADS
July 20, 2023
RAPP’s inaugural health equity accelerator program, Series R, was launched on International Women’s Day with one mission in mind for 2023 — to create a culture of “yes” around FemTech. The resulting journey has been a labor of love for RAPP’s Health & Wellness team, Series R jury, and countless other individuals across RAPP and Omnicom. Together, they architected the program from the ground up, spread the word, and enjoyed learning about the game-changing, early-stage FemTech companies who applied for RAPP’s hand as an industry leader to address widespread inequities in the healthcare space.
After much consideration, RAPP is pleased to present one applicant that truly embodied RAPP’s spirit of Fierce Individuality and stood out among the rest — IRTH App, winner of Series R! As a result, IRTH will receive RAPP’s pro bono strategy, technology, marketing science services, and creative design, focused on helping IRTH break through to a broader audience and accelerate its path forward in the market.
In the United States, Black women are over 243% more likely to die from pregnancy and childbirth related causes. However, the CDC states that over 80% of Black maternal deaths are preventable. IRTH App, founded by Kimberly Seals Allers, is on a mission to combat this horrific public health crisis by illuminating specific instances of racial bias in maternal health, simultaneously leveraging tech and data to target the issues at its core.
IRTH App is a “Yelp-like” review and recommendation platform and data aggregator engine for OB/GYNs, birthing hospitals and pediatricians. The non-profit engages Black and brown parents and doulas to leave reviews and access IRTH’s content community from prenatal to baby’s first birthday. According to the platform, some of the top attitudes Black and brown patients experience nationally are their requests for help being ignored or refused, dismissal of pain levels, privacy violations, assumptions based on racial stereotyping, and more.
On the backend, IRTH turns these recorded qualitative experiences into quantitative data which enable them to work directly with hospitals and providers to pinpoint and address blind spots, while cultivating more respectful and equitable care for Black and brown patients.
While IRTH App’s mission is one Series R wholeheartedly believes in, it is also a natural fit for RAPP’s marketing services and data-centric offering, resulting in what we believe will be an ideal partnership that creates meaningful change in a marginalized community. Through this endeavor, we hope to drive more positive birthing experiences for Black and brown parents across the U.S. — an objective seamlessly aligned with the holistic pursuit for RAPP Series R: to pave the way for a brighter future in FemTech, improving outcomes and democratizing access for all women.
