Erica Chidi, co-founder of LOOM and first generation Nigerian, learned from an early age to wrap the language of self-care around her body. She spent the first part of her life in South Africa, then the epicenter of the HIV and AIDS epidemic, and watched her father work as an endocrinologist and an infectious disease specialist. This revelation was complemented by Chidi’s mother, a registered nurse, who “made talking about the body something that was pretty common in our home”. Your childhood sowed an understanding of the woman’s body, a conversation that can become stigmatized in many migrant households.
Eventually, Chidi became a doula, a trained person who guides mothers through the process of motherhood.
“As a doula, I’ve really focused on providing personalized attention and helping people stand up for themselves … so they can optimize their health experience anywhere on their journey to sexual reproductive health,” she said. “When I look back at what I’m doing now, 10 years later, I know that I was really focused on the user experience back then.”
That’s the seedling that led to Loom, not this video company, but a digital learning platform about women’s health, with an explicit focus on sexual and reproductive health. Chidi founded it in 2017 with Quinn Lundberg, an advocate for women’s health policy. After the duo raised $ 3 million in seed funding last year, Loom is now officially launching its first course for the public: a pregnancy and postpartum program.
The program, which costs $ 90 for 12 months of access, includes asynchronous and synchronous learning components.
The video repository, which Chidi describes as “master class but for sexual reproductive health,” includes videos on drug, non-drug, and caesarean births, as well as advice on choosing a care provider. The live components include weekly small pods, primarily run by clinicians, that address specific issues and concerns mothers may face, such as: B. aftercare or trimester tips. There is also a monthly talk from Chidi where the entire community is invited to delve into a unique topic from the world of pregnancy and the puerperium. These sessions are currently held through Zoom, but Loom is in the process of developing its own video platform.
Chidi said the company was more interested in bringing users instant and actionable value from content rather than getting them to view or complete all of the content. Easier said than done, however. The company must combine appealing material with differentiated medical training recognized by doctors. At the moment, Chidi teaches much of the content, and despite their upbringing and experience, doulas are not considered medical professionals. Loom works with research institutes, community organizations and the Reproductive Justice Framework – an anti-racist movement for reproductive rights and social justice – to develop its content.
Expectful, a similar company to Loom, raised $ 3 million this year. Expectful is a meditation and sleep app for women and is now expanding into a community and marketplace for new and expectant mothers. The startup’s new CEO, Nathalie Walton, is, along with Chidi, two of the few dozen black female founders who are raising millions in venture capital.
Chidi, a black LGBTQ + founder, considered her an “untraditional founder” in many ways: “I didn’t go to Stanford, I don’t have an MBA, and I don’t have a technical background,” she said. “But what about me last year What stood out is that I’ve always been a deep systems thinker. I’m a rigorous writer and a very tactical educator, and all of these skills go really well into the product development process. ” she brings with her fits strategically into the world of women’s health care.
source https://dailyhealthynews.ca/loom-spins-up-a-pregnancy-and-postpartum-education-program-techcrunch/
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