Oh hi, I started a newsletter.
I’m Megan, a strategist and creative director who’s worked in women’s health and wellness—and motherhood only gave me more things to overanalyze.
Mom Friends is where parenting meets business, culture, and science—tracking the trends, brands, and shifts shaping modern motherhood. For now, links + intelligence. Eventually, I’d love this to be a space for recs, reads, interviews, and deep dives on the business of birth, parenting, and maternal health.
Thanks for being here :)
Birth Boom, Baby?
Once reserved for hippie home births and water tubs in Malibu, midwives are officially finding their way into the mainstream. Mille just secured $12M to expand its midwife-led maternity care model, signaling a shift in how Americans approach birth—less sterile, more supportive.
Signed, Sealed and Delivered
For centuries, midwives were the standard—until hospitals pushed them aside in favor of a more "modern" (read: medicalized, male-dominated) approach to birth. Now, women are figuring out that maybe the people who’ve been delivering babies for thousands of years actually know a thing or two. Signs things are (hopefully) shifting:
Celebrities getting real about their birth stories: Rumer Willis’ home birth photoshoot, Ashley Graham, and Gigi Hadid are making home birth less fringe, more aspirational.
Influencer doulas gaining traction: Carson Meyer’s C & The Moon is as much a birth concierge as it is a skincare brand and Lori Bregman is doula du jour in LA.
State & employer-backed midwifery care: Medicaid is expanding doula coverage, while startups are offering birth support as a work perk.
Books like The Motherload exposing birth for what it’s been for many women—traumatic and disempowering.
Market Expansions and Contractions
C’s the Day: C-sections are up, trust is down: Nearly 1 in 3 US births are surgical, despite WHO recommendations that rates should be under 15%.
Midwife, But Make It Modern: Oula raised $22M for its hybrid midwifery-OB model, making pregnancy care feel less like a hospital visit and more like a wellness plan.
Covered Concierges: Tia & Parsley Health are lending concierge maternity care with insurance-backed maternal wellness because high-quality care shouldn’t require a trust fund.
Amazon Delivering Babies: Players like Amazon Clinic and Maven are betting on virtual maternal care—because same-day shipping wasn’t ambitious enough.
Kegels by Appointment: Origin is tackling pelvic floor therapy and postpartum recovery standard and devices like Materna are trying to save moms from prolapse.
More Than a Prenatal: New player: Marma—the only OB-GYN and registered dietitian-approved nutrition platform for pregnancy and postpartum because (shockingly) pregnancy takes more than a prenatal.
Systemic Issues: Former editor Elaine Welteroth’s birthFUND, launched in April 2024, is taking on the systemic disparities that put Black women and marginalized parents at greater risk.
Meanwhile…
Birth centers are closing, especially in LA, leaving a gap that telehealth and tech-driven maternity startups are rushing to fill.
Remote monitoring has entered its 2nd trimester—startups like Nuvo’s Invu tracks fetal heart rates and contractions from home, while Mirvie predicts pregnancy complications before they happen.
Virtual support platforms are stepping in—bringing prenatal counseling, lactation support, and mental health care straight to your phone—so less 2AM googling.
Investors see opportunity—maternal health funding jumped from $38M in 2018 to $306M in 2023, backing companies tackling equitable care, hybrid birth models, and tech-enabled postpartum recovery.
Momstincts: What’s Next
Midwives covered like dental cleanings? In Sweden, midwife-led birth centers like Bonzun, are standard and fully insured. In the US, we’re (very) slowly getting there with states expanding Medicaid doula coverage.
Maternity leave, but make it real. Netflix offers a full year of paid leave, while most US parents are expected to bounce back in six weeks with a baby and serious sleep deprivation. Will more companies follow?
Tech enters the womb. In Germany, AI-powered pregnancy apps like Keleya are offering custom prenatal plans.
Home birth gets its billboard moment. Molly Baz helped normalize breastfeeding in Times Square. How long before we see a full-blown home birth ad campaign?
The future? Less hospital drama, more actual support. Now, will policy catch up?
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