In the rush to build, disrupt, and scale, one voice often goes missing in women’s health: the practicing OB/GYN. We sit with patients every day. We listen, translate lab results, walk through choices, and help people decide when the room feels a little tense. I finished three such conversations before writing this. It sticks with you.

When startups overlook that view, adoption falters. Trust wobbles. People move on. Here are five things that, from where I stand, matter more than they seem at first glance.

The patient experience is messier than your wireframe

On paper, user flows look clean. Real life is not. Patients arrive with anxiety, partial information, five open browser tabs, and a lunch break that ends in 12 minutes. Some are expecting. Some are grieving. Some are both, which sounds unlikely until you see it.

Design for the emotional journey, not just the clinical steps. If your product does not meet people where they are, including their worries and the time crunch, they will quietly stop using it. I wish it were different. I also think honesty about this helps.

If we do not trust it, we will not recommend it

We are protective of our patients. Trends pass through clinics like weather fronts. A few help. A few hurt. Most sit in the middle and ask for attention we do not have.

If your claims feel sweeping or your risk language feels thin, we step back. Bring us in early. Let us poke holes. We often spot clinical gaps you did not intend. It is not about making life difficult. It is about sleeping at night after you recommend something to a person who is counting on you.

Equity is not a campaign, it is the floor

Putting diverse photos in a deck is easy. Closing outcome gaps is not. Maternal health in the U.S. shows clear and persistent differences. We see them shift across language, culture, geography, cost, and trust.

If your solution does not address barriers like translation, culturally safe content, access to care, or the way systems actually move people through them, it will miss those who need it most. I do not say this to scold. I say it because I keep seeing the same pattern, and I would like to see less of it.

Workflow beats good intentions

Great tools fail when they add clicks, training time, or new windows we must babysit. If I need to sign in twice, find a code, and re-enter the same note I just wrote in the chart, I will give up by Wednesday. Not because I do not care. Because the unit is busy, and someone is calling from triage.

Ask exactly where your tool fits in the day of a clinic, a labor floor, or an operating room. Sit with a team for an afternoon. Watch the handoffs. If your product saves time and keeps documentation tidy, it has a chance. If it asks for another step with no clear payback, it does not.

We want to partner, not just endorse

A quote on a slide is fine. A real partnership is better. Invite physicians to shape messaging, test features, and review safety language. Share what you learn, even when the findings are mixed. Especially then.

As a practicing OB/GYN who also coaches leaders, I spend a lot of time helping teams build these bridges. Clinical integrity on one side. Product goals on the other. The middle is where trust shows up. I think that is the part that lasts.

If you want your women’s health startup to stand out, do not stop at a quick consult with a doctor. Build it with one. And if that sounds harder than planned, you are probably on the right track.

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