Guest Host: The Progress and Promise of Predicting Complications in Pregnancy

I’m glad to be back on the mic and bringing you this special episode of Digital Health Today 360. Why is this episode special? Let me explain. One of the goals of the Digital Health Today channel is to create a space where people can learn about great innovation that can improve the health of both individuals and entire populations.  Over the years, as I’ve been creating my own show, I’ve also had the opportunity to expand and serve the health community in other ways. Along with my colleagues at Mission Based Media, we’ve created other audio-first resources to share more information. For example, we created Health Podcast Network to showcase other high-quality, human-centered and evidence-based podcasts. Health Podcast Network now has about 100 different health podcasts and 13,000 episodes.  We also worked through the pandemic to add new shows to Digital Health Today such as the DTx Podcast with Eugene Borukhovich, where he dives into the nascent digital therapeutics industry. And, most recently, we launched a library of podcasts called Health Unmuted where we create and share short-format, narrated, audio stories to help people understand more about specific health conditions. We launched the proof-of-concept miniseries last year called COPD Podcast. In June we launched the 5-part miniseries about Alzheimer’s Disease, and this month, in July, we’ll launch a 7-part miniseries about Parkinson’s disease. Why am I explaining all this? Because all this work at the intersection of health and podcasting has given me a chance to experiment with different formats, styles, content and audiences, and it’s also made me realize that I love creating this show.   It’s also made me more aware than ever that there is so much more that needs to be shared.   So, in this special episode, as I fire up the recording studio and prepare some great conversations with guests over the coming weeks and months, I thought I’d stand aside and invite another podcaster who is doing some great work in an area that needs much more attention.   Georgie Kovacs is the founder and host of Fempower Health - the go-to resource for all things women’s health serving women, their providers, and companies looking to build and improve on products for women. Georgie is really open about her first-hand experience with infertility and endometriosis. With that experience, she was motivated to start a podcast - in the middle of COVID, and as a single parent. Now if that’s not passion, I don’t know what is. You can find her show, Fempower Health, on Health Podcast Network. In this special epsiode, Georgie spoke with Dr. Michal Elovitz. Dr. Elovitz is the Distinguished Professor in Women’s Health at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and she’s also the Chief Medical Advisor at Mirvie, a company creating a personalized window into pregnancy health.   When it comes to women’s health, I’ve been astonished at the tremendous need for improvement, funding and resources, and at the same time, I’ve also seen some incredible innovation that is happening that needs more attention, awareness and funding! And despite the U.S. having the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries, health risks in pregnancy health have remained understudied, underfunded, and underserved. Pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, preterm birth and gestational diabetes impact 1 in 5 women, and with no accurate way to predict them before symptoms appear, both moms and babies are often in crisis mode when diagnosed in their third trimester.  In their conversation, Georgie and Dr. Elovitz explain one of those complications, preeclampsia, and explore how better screening can help. Let me know what you think of this episode. Drop me a line on Twitter or LinkedIn and let me know! More great episodes of DHT350 are on the way, so be sure to hit follow on your favorite podcast app.   Thanks for tuning in!