When Serena Williams gave birth to her first child, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., she suffered severe birth complications that affect Black black mothers three to four times more than any other race. It's for that reason why Serena, along with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, have invested in a startup called Mahmee that's a black-owned startup aimed to help the Black maternal mortality crisis.
Mahmee will allow healthcare providers the opportunity to share health plans, care records and give new and expecting mothers the ability to track their health as well as their babies.
“In the maternity healthcare process, on the surface, there are generally three or four people involved: the mother, the baby, and each of their physicians. What we don’t see are the many other people helping them: nurses, lactation consultants, midwives, nutritionists, therapists, doulas, home health aides, social workers, and more,” Melissa Hanna, CEO and co-founder of the app said in a statement.
“And this industry is lacking the IT infrastructure needed to connect these professionals from different organizations to each other and to follow and monitor patients across practices and health systems. This missing element creates gaps in care. Mahmee is the glue that connects the care ecosystem and closes the gaps.”
Serena expressed her excitement in championing the company that "personifies my firm’s investment philosophy."
“Given the bleak data surrounding maternal death and injury rates, I believe that it is absolutely critical right now to invest in solutions that help protect the lives of moms and babies," she said. "Mahmee’s data-driven approach is the right solution to one of the most significant problems in the system: that of fragmented care.”