Mendara launches anonymous birth trauma support app ahead of planned Nesta spin-out
Combines facilitator-led group sessions with trauma-informed digital tools in a bid to address one of maternal healthcare’s most overlooked gaps.
UK startup Mendara has launched an anonymous peer support platform for women recovering from difficult and traumatic births, combining facilitator-led group sessions with trauma-informed digital tools to address a longstanding gap in postnatal support.
The platform opened early access to a small group of founding members during Birth Trauma Awareness Week. Developed alongside the Birth Trauma Association and incubated within Nesta, the UK's innovation agency for social good, Mendara is approaching spin-out as an independent company.
“There are very few places where women can go to process what happened during or after giving birth. There are even fewer that are both safe and accessible,” said founder Lilit Mesyan.
“Mendara offers peer support in a space held by a trauma-informed facilitator, allowing members to feel truly validated and heard, especially around a subject that is still largely taboo.”
Bridging the gap between clinical care and unsupported recovery
Around one in three women describe their birth as traumatic, yet access to specialist support remains limited. Mendara says that an estimated 30,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following childbirth each year, while many more experience psychological distress without meeting the threshold for formal clinical intervention.
Mendara aims to bridge the gap between clinical mental health services and unsupported recovery through facilitated peer support.
Sessions are intentionally kept small and delivered entirely through text via the app, allowing women to participate anonymously using nicknames rather than their real identities. Between sessions, members can access trauma-informed digital tools designed to help them continue processing their experiences.
Birth trauma was identified as an area of unmet need by Nesta’s mission studio, and the concept was then validated through facilitated peer support sessions and digital product testing.
The model was developed alongside the Birth Trauma Association (BTA), with the charity’s Chair, Rachael McGrath, leading many of the platform’s early facilitated sessions. McGrath came to the role through her own experience of a twin pregnancy complicated by a life-changing placental abruption, emergency caesarean birth, and severe postpartum complications.
“During my recovery, connecting with others who truly understood the impact of a traumatic birth became an invaluable part of my healing journey,” said Rachael.
“At least 30,000 women in the UK receive a PTSD diagnosis following birth every year, and many more are struggling without ever meeting the clinical threshold. Every woman who comes to Mendara deserves to be heard, and that is exactly what this does.”
Human facilitation supported by AI
Mendara’s model centres on trained human facilitators, with artificial intelligence supporting facilitator training and providing in-session guidance rather than replacing human interaction.
According to the company, every group is led by a paid facilitator with lived experience of birth trauma, with AI helping maintain quality and consistency as the service scales.
Rachael said one of the biggest risks in poorly designed peer support is what she describes as “double invalidation” - where women seek support only to leave feeling dismissed again. Mendara’s facilitation model has been designed to ensure every participant’s experience is acknowledged and validated.
The company said its goal is to build a model that can be replicated consistently, with the quality of support no longer dependent on geography, waiting lists or access to private care.
Plans to expand beyond birth trauma
Mendara currently operates on a direct-to-consumer subscription model, providing unlimited access to facilitated group sessions and between-session support tools.
Longer term, the company plans to work with employers, insurers and healthcare providers through a B2B2C model. It also intends to expand the platform beyond birth trauma, partnering with charities and patient organisations to develop facilitated peer support for other health conditions and life experiences.
The launch reflects growing interest in emotional support models that sit between routine care and specialist mental health services. Rather than waiting until women reach the threshold for clinical intervention, companies are increasingly exploring how facilitated peer support, digital tools and community-based care can help people process difficult experiences earlier.
It also highlights a broader shift in digital health away from technology replacing human interaction and towards technology enabling it at scale. In Mendara’s case, AI is used to support facilitators behind the scenes, while the core intervention remains human-led—a model the company hopes can eventually be applied across a wider range of health conditions.