Owlet, Inc., a smart infant monitoring company based in Lehi, Utah, has announced a partnership with VillageFor to advocate for improved mental health support for expecting and new parents. The collaboration seeks to expand access to mental health resources for families navigating pregnancy and the postpartum period.
The partnership was announced to coincide with World Mental Health Day and occurs during the months of SIDS Awareness and Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness. According to Owlet, the initiative aims to provide mental health expertise alongside the company's existing infant safety technology.
As part of the launch, Owlet and VillageFor scheduled a joint activation on October 7 at Luminary in New York City. The event, titled The Village Around Her: A Conversation About Everyone and Everything Surrounding Mom, will feature Owlet's Head of Marketing, Krista Weaver, and VillageFor Co-Founder and President, Caitlin Probst. The discussion will explore supporting maternal mental health and the roles played by people, products, and systems in supporting mothers from conception through postpartum and loss.
VillageFor was founded by mothers Christy Davis and Caitlin Probst following their own experiences with infertility, NICU stays, and postpartum mental health conditions. The platform provides evidence-based mental health screening, personalized insights, mood check-ins, and tools such as guided journaling and affirmations.
Co-founders Davis and Probst stated that the platform was created because many mothers struggle in silence, often wondering if their emotional experiences are normal. The founders noted that while women receive significant information regarding pregnancy and infant care, they often receive less assistance for navigating the emotional changes that occur during these stages.
The partnership includes specific benefits for users: VillageFor members can receive discounts on Owlet products, and Owlet360 members will receive three months of free access to VillagePlus, which includes five My Village seats for trusted individuals.
Owlet's Chief Parent Officer, Liz Teran, stated that the partnership allows the company to pair the trust families place in their technology with the mental health expertise developed by VillageFor. The company's mission is to support parents across all facets of the parenting journey.
The partnership addresses a significant gap in maternal mental health support. Data indicates that as many as one in five women experience perinatal depression. Research shows that postpartum depression is associated with various maternal and infant outcomes, including infant health, sleep, development, breastfeeding, and bonding. Additionally, mothers with poor sleep quality have been found to have more than three times the odds of experiencing postpartum depression symptoms compared to those with good sleep quality.
Owlet, Inc. is a pediatric health platform that provides FDA-cleared and medically-certified wearable pediatric monitors. Since 2012, the company has served more than 2.5 million parents with monitoring technology designed to bridge the gap between hospital and home care.
