Zenith Health launches platform to turn pregnancy experiences into evidence-based care
Two core features aim to close long-standing gaps in maternal health knowledge
A new digital platform has launched to help anyone who is pregnant access clear, data-driven answers to pressing health questions — while also contributing their own experiences to a patient-powered maternal health registry.
Zenith Health, founded with a mission to replace “opinions, anecdotes or pseudoscience” with real-world data, is rolling out two core features: the Zenith Pregnancy Evidence Project and a digital tool named “Ask Pearl”. Both are designed to close long-standing gaps in maternal health knowledge.
Building a data-driven future for maternal care
At the heart of Zenith’s ambitions is the Pregnancy Evidence Project, a large-scale research initiative governed by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and built on voluntary participation. Through it, women can choose to share their pregnancy experiences.
“The Zenith Pregnancy Evidence Project is designed to become the most ambitious and comprehensive maternal health research project ever assembled. Based on a patient-powered research model, individuals affected by gaps in data and in care can actively help close them,” said Abigail Bertelson, co-founder and CEO of Zenith Health.
Zenith hopes the model — which puts users in control of contributing their data — will ultimately reshape how pregnancy care is delivered and studied, using insights from the millions of pregnancies that occur each year to improve outcomes and reduce uncertainty.
‘Ask Pearl’: Answers with evidence
Alongside the Pregnancy Evidence Project is Pearl — short for Pregnancy Evidence And Real-world Learnings — a free tool built to provide personalised responses to pregnancy-related questions. Drawing on peer-reviewed studies, clinical guidelines, and user-contributed data from Zenith Health’s Pregnancy Evidence Project, Pearl aims to make it easier to understand whether a symptom is typical or whether a medication is safe to take.
“Today, questions like “is this symptom normal?” or “can I take this medication?” are often met with vague advice or outdated guidance,” continued Abigail.
“Not because we don’t all want the best guidance and care for expecting moms, but because sometimes the data simply isn’t there to support a better answer.”