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A new AI-powered app is giving expecting parents the chance to literally feel their unborn baby’s heartbeat through gentle vibrations on their phone.
Trellis Health‘s “heartbeat feature” might sound spookily futuristic, but it delivers the opportunity for parents-to-be to experience their baby’s pulse in their palm anytime they like.
“This feature offers a deeply emotional and tangible way for members, and their families, to connect with their baby during pregnancy, something that has traditionally been limited to fleeting moments in a clinic or sonogram room,” Estelle Giraud, CEO and co-founder of Trellis, told The Post.
“Feeling your baby’s actual heartbeat, synced in real time through gentle vibrations, creates an intimate bond that helps make the pregnancy experience more real and present, especially in the early months when physical signs are subtle.”
Giraud said the feature offers “peace of mind” to parents feeling anxious between doctor’s appointments.
The doctor sends the ultrasound to Trellis for use in the app.
“It’s a haptic loop to the beat of the recorded fetal heart rate directly from the ultrasound,” Giraud explained.
“The member taps the heart icon in the individual ultrasound, and the loop will continue until deactivating with another tap.”
Any ultrasound that includes a fetal heartbeat can be used — though Giraud noted that “earlier in-pregnancy stage ultrasounds do not always report a fetal heartbeat, but this doesn’t mean that there isn’t one.”
The app, which launched on May 20, costs $96 a year.
The Seattle-based health tech startup aims to address “glaring gaps in women’s health,” such as high maternal mortality rates, “nearly nonexistent” postpartum care and an “overwhelming and fragmented” healthcare experience.
The app includes a straightforward, comprehensive view of your health history, help with questions to ask the doctor and easy access to midwife support.
Recent adopters of the heartbeat feature seem to be impressed.
Giraud said that “the reactions have been incredibly moving,” with many parents describing it “as a critical moment of connection to their baby.”
“Family members have also been deeply impacted, being able to hold and feel the baby’s heartbeat has helped them feel more involved in the journey,” she added.
“We’ve heard everything from, ‘I cried the first time I felt it’ to ‘It brought my partner and me closer to the pregnancy in a way we didn’t expect.’”
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