Why Phia
Most of these deaths are preventable.
Why mothers in the United States are still dying from pregnancy, and what it will take to stop it.
The problem
A crisis hiding in plain sight.
In 2024, 649 women in the United States died from causes tied to pregnancy. That is 17.9 deaths for every 100,000 live births, a rate far higher than in any other high-income country.
The burden is not shared equally. Black mothers died at a rate of 44.8 per 100,000 births, more than three times the rate for white mothers.
The hardest part: most of it could have been prevented. When state review committees examined pregnancy-related deaths, they judged 84% of them preventable. These deaths are rarely sudden. They follow warning signs that were missed, dismissed or never reported.
649
mothers died in 2024
84%
of deaths judged preventable
3x
the death rate for Black mothers
When it happens
The danger does not end at delivery.
We tend to think of childbirth itself as the dangerous moment. The data tells a different story. Nearly two in three pregnancy-related deaths happen after the day of delivery, once the hospital stay is over and mothers are home, healing and caring for a newborn.
During pregnancy
26%
On the day of delivery
11%
In the first week after
16%
From week two to week six
20%
From six weeks to one year
27%
More than one in four deaths happen after six weeks, long after many mothers have had their last routine visit. By then, the system has largely stopped watching.
Why it persists
Care is built around appointments. Risk is not.
Visits are weeks apart. After birth, the next scheduled checkup is often weeks away. Warning signs do not wait for it.
Warning signs look ordinary. A headache, swelling, a racing heart or a dark mood can pass for normal new-parent life until it becomes an emergency.
The burden falls on her. She has to notice the change, decide it is serious and know who to call, all while recovering from birth and caring for a baby.
The leading cause is often unseen. Mental health conditions, including overdose and suicide, are the most common underlying cause of pregnancy-related death.
What the market built
Access was never the whole problem.
For a decade, maternal health technology has focused on access: telehealth visits, apps, nurse lines and, now, chatbots. Each made it easier to reach care. Each also waits for her to ask.
A tool that only answers puts the work on the person least able to do it. She has to recognize the warning sign, find the words and reach out at the right time. The mothers at highest risk are often the least likely to.
Most tools
An agent that fills a request
Waits for her to ask
Answers the question in front of it
Starts over every conversation
Phia
An agent that looks for risk
Checks in before she asks
Reads every message against her history
Follows up until she is seen
How Phia works
Built to look for risk.
Phia is a medical group with an AI care agent. The agent keeps watch between visits. Our nurses and specialists act when something needs a person.
1
It checks in first.
Regular check-ins and short safety screens, so she never has to start the conversation.
2
It remembers her.
Every message is read against her history, so a small change stands out.
3
A nurse steps in.
When something looks wrong, a nurse joins her thread, day or night.
4
It sees it through.
Referrals, reminders and follow-up until she is actually seen.
What we believe
Every mother deserves someone watching.
Catch it early. A concern caught today is a phone call. Caught too late, it is an emergency.
People make the call. Our agent finds the signal. Licensed clinicians decide what happens next.
Meet her where she is. By text, in any language, at any hour, from home.
Stay until it is resolved. Not only during pregnancy, and not only when she thinks to ask.
Our commitment
Putting money behind the mission.
Beginning November 1, 2026, Phia gives $9.50 to March of Dimes for every new paid membership. That is half of a new member’s first month, and Phia pays it, not her.
March of Dimes has worked for decades to give every mom and baby the best possible start. For us it is personal. One of our founder’s children was born at 28 weeks.
Help us reach every mother.
Phia is available today in Pennsylvania and Delaware, in any language. Health plans, employers and clinicians can bring Phia to the mothers they serve.
Sources
CDC National Center for Health Statistics. Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2024.
CDC. Pregnancy-Related Deaths: Data From Maternal Mortality Review Committees, 2020 (38 states).
Commonwealth Fund. Insights into the U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis: An International Comparison, 2024.