Heartbeat Labs launches its first digital health company Kinderheldin

Today, the Berlin-based startup Kinderheldin announces the launch of its online consultation for expecting mothers and parents of infants. Qualified midwives answer questions and concerns regarding pregnancy, birth and infants, via chat, e-mail or phone call.

Christiane Hammerl, a certified midwife and part of the core development team at Kinderheldin, on the vision behind the company: “Pregnancy and birth are among the most exciting times in a woman’s life. Unfortunately, it is also a period that often lacks access to professional advice. Especially in rural areas, midwives are often overburdened by high demands and low capacities. This is exactly where we come in, not as a replacement, but as an addition in supporting parents with their concerns, particularly outside of regular consultation-hours.”

For the past few years the birth rate in Germany has been increasing significantly; for the first time in over 30 years it has climbed to 1.5 per woman. This has led to a shortage of midwives as their numbers have not increased at the same rate. In order to raise awareness, numerous initiatives have been set up, such as “our midwives”, a website that has collected over 14,000 signatures from parents who have been unsuccessful in finding a midwife in their region. Kinderheldin gives them access to advice from experienced midwives, regardless of their geographical location. Initially, the consultation will occur mainly in the evenings and on weekends, when advisory support is most difficult to obtain.

How it works
In order to access the service, users go on www.kinderheldin.de, type in their question, choose how they would like to be contacted by the midwives and proceed to indicate their preferred payment method. The midwives will get back to them shortly.

Kinderheldin provides three points of contact to choose from:

Email for €3.90 – Response within 60 minutes.
Chat for €9.90 – Live-chat in browser, response within 15 minutes, duration up to 20 minutes.
Phone call for €19.90 – Response within 15 minutes, duration of call up to 20 minutes.

Among the most frequently asked questions are those relating to the process of giving birth, difficulties with breastfeeding, as well as the baby’s diet and weight. Every question is answered by qualified experts, the company does not make use of chat bots or other automated messenger tools.

CEO of Kinderheldin, Dr. Paul Hadrossek on his new service: “Numerous women look to the Internet for help. However, an overload of information, often deriving from people outside of the medical field, leaves them more confused than before. In most cases their only alternative is driving to the emergency room where they wait long hours for an unsatisfying check-up. By launching Kinderheldin, our aim is not to replace doctors or an emergency room, but to provide parents with an additional option for receiving professional advice regarding pressing questions and concerns.”

About Kinderheldin
Kinderheldin is an online consultation service for expecting mothers and parents of infants. Seven days a week, certified midwives are available to answer questions regarding pregnancy, birth and infancy – either via email, live-chat or over the phone. Kinderheldin was developed by Dr. Paul Hadrossek along with certified midwife Christiane Hammerl. The Berlin-based company is supported by Heartbeat Labs – a startup platform for digital health