A new Lancet Obstetrics & Gynaecology Viewpoint by Dr Alexandra Ridout, Professor Eugene Oteng-Ntim and Professor Andrew Shennan, alongside a podcast by Dr Ridout on the article, explores how FemTech can help close some of the most persistent gaps in women’s health.
Originally associated with fertility and wellness apps, FemTech is now expanding to include point-of-care diagnostics, AI-enabled ultrasound, and early-warning tools designed for real-world health systems, particularly in low-resource settings. Rather than “scaling down” from high-income countries, many of the most impactful innovations are emerging from necessity-driven global health contexts, with lessons increasingly flowing back into UK care.
The authors argue that FemTech’s true potential lies in equity: reaching women who are often invisible to health systems, delivering care closer to home, and embedding innovation into trusted, everyday pathways, such as communities and GP practices. They call for inclusive design, stronger regulation and clinical validation, and funding models that prioritise social impact, with women as co-creators, not just end users.
As Dr Alex Ridout notes: “The real potential of FemTech lies not only in what it delivers, but in whom it reaches.”
This work closely aligns with CRIBS Global’s mission to co-design scalable, context-responsive maternal health innovations.
Read the paper here.
Listen to the Lancet O&G podcast here.