1 in 7 women have Postpartum Depression (PPD) after giving birth and for about 50% of the women diagnosed with PPD, it is also their first time experiencing depression according to the APA. There is a myriad of resources and rituals that are being thrown at expecting mothers including vitamins, diets, medicines, countless products, and exercises but we may be ignoring one of the basic ones – maintaining mental health.
A proven mechanism to maintain your mental health during the reproductive experience is through meditation. Expectful is the guided meditation app, founded in 2015, that’s designed specifically to help parents navigate the stressful and anxiety-invoking experiences of pregnancy and parenthood. With an extensive library of guided meditations for both mothers and fathers, Expectful empowers expecting and new parents to remain tranquil and sane during this transition in their lives and even also addresses highly-sensitive, emotional subjects like pregnancy loss. Expectful can be downloaded on the major app stores and is offered through a monthly or yearly subscription.
AlleyWatch spoke to founder Mark Krassner about building an app that provides the meditation support framework for mothers and fathers and the company’s future plans.
Tell us about the product or service that Expectful offers.
Expectful is a research-based meditation platform that helps parents navigate the world of fertility, pregnancy, and parenthood. Through the Expectful app, both mothers and fathers have access to the world’s largest library of guided meditations for every phase of the reproductive journey to help ensure they are at an optimal mental state.
When I created Expectful we devoted a lot of time researching the “mind/baby connection,” which is the way women’s emotions during pregnancy affect the baby’s development and growth later on and we found this was critical to address.
How is Expectful different?
There is a tremendous focus on the physical health of a woman’s body and the impact it has on fertility and an unborn baby. The resources, apps, books, blogs, etc. that explain what not to eat, what exercise is safe, the best sleep positions, are really endless and overwhelming.
We wanted to create a space for parents that prioritizes their mental and emotional state and makes this as important as taking a daily prenatal vitamin. 1 in 7 mothers struggle with postpartum depression and 1 in 10 fathers experience the same struggle. This is a key priority for Expectful and we offer guided meditations and access to the world’s largest content library to help parents during various phases of their journey.
What market does Expectful target and how big is it?
The “new mom economy” is a $46B industry and startups are attracting a large share of venture capital funds, nearing $500M. Yet even though mental health is crucial to a baby’s development, all of these companies are focused on physical health, baby health, working mothers and their careers, breastfeeding, infant tech, and baby food delivery. There isn’t a single space for parents to focus on their mental state and how to ensure they are the best versions of themselves.
Our target market taps into both mothers and fathers and looks at fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum and how to guide parents through these crucial phases of their most important job yet – parenthood.
What is the business model?
The Expectful app is available online and in the App Store through monthly and yearly subscriptions.
What inspired the start of Expectful?
I spent a day with family friends that had their first child during an anxious period of life, and their second after adopting a meditation practice. The child born during a calm time was noticeably more peaceful and easy-going. This was so obvious that it was a bit of a joke in the family. This could have been totally coincidental, but it left such an impression on me, so I went online to see what people were saying about meditation during pregnancy.
I was surprised to find that there was very little relevant info available through search engines, so I hired a Ph.D. student to look into all the available research on the subject of prenatal meditation and stress. A week later I poured over all of the studies and read about the clear link between a mother’s emotions and the health and happiness of her baby in ways that can last a lifetime.
This made me think about my mom, who struggles with anxiety and depression, my own childhood, and the almost universal pressure and stress moms and dads understandably feel in today’s society.
After having a few conversations with my mom and doing a bit more research, I had this moment where I realized there is almost nothing out there to emotionally support mothers and parents during one of the most challenging and stressful times of their lives. That just felt crazy, like we’ve been really letting families down in this super important area. Shortly after that, I decided to put out a small handful of guided meditations for moms and couples, which has grown and evolved into Expectful.
You are not the target market for Expectful. What enables you to be the one to create a product for women?
If the fact than an unmarried man with no children created a pregnancy company makes you raise an eyebrow, you’re not alone. Thankfully I’ve been able to surround myself with a group of strong and insightful moms that make Expectful possible. In fact, two of the pregnant women that were in the first batch of users that tried Expectful joined the team when they became moms. Not only do the moms on the team heavily influence the business, but the feedback our users provide plays a key role in informing all of our decisions.
Thankfully I’ve been able to surround myself with a group of strong and insightful moms that make Expectful possible. In fact, two of the pregnant women that were in the first batch of users that tried Expectful joined the team when they became moms. Not only do the moms on the team heavily influence the business, but the feedback our users provide plays a key role in informing all of our decisions.
What are the milestones that you plan to achieve within six months?
We are planning to launch libraries of guided meditations that are specific to postpartum health, pregnancy loss, and fatherhood, and grow our Instagram channel to 200,000 followers.
What is the one piece of startup advice that you never got?
Don’t trust marketing agencies!
If you could be put in touch with anyone in the New York community who would it be and why?
Joanne Wilson! She is an investor that’s also a mom who I respect.
Why did you launch in New York?
Because it’s home and I love the drive of the people here.
What’s your favorite restaurant in the city?
Sweetgreen. I love their food and ethos.
