Report: Texas Still Ranks in Bottom for Reproductive Care

San Antonio-based BobiHealth uses artificial intelligence to improve pregnancy safety, based on user-generated scientific evidence.

BobiHealth, the Baby on Board Intelligence app, collects data on user-reported symptoms and uses AI to predict risks such as preeclampsia, blood clots and mental health issues.

CEO Dave Esra, a retired army officer, said his wife was considered high-risk during pregnancy and after studying maternal health during the pandemic, he realised there needed to be a greater focus on maternal health.

Esra was researching how the COVID-19 vaccine would affect pregnancy and realized there wasn’t much information or research on maternal health. He said that was a problem.

“When I saw the staggering statistics about maternal health—about 800 women die every day from maternal-related issues, and 94 percent of those deaths are preventable,” Esra said. “That was crazy to me.”

In addition, Texas once again ranked last in women’s health, according to a report by The Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based research institute. The institute’s report is a statewide scorecard that tracks trends in women’s health while also documenting how policies and legislation affect women’s access to care.

Texas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates, with 35 to 51 women dying per 100,000 births between 2020 and 2022, according to the report.

Laura Terrill, CEO of Planned Parenthood South Texas, said that while it is disheartening, she is not surprised Texas was at the bottom of the list.

“Unfortunately, reproductive health lawmakers and the governor are preventing organizations like Planned Parenthood (and) the incredibly important services we provide from meeting the needs of our community,” Terrill said.

Data privacy

Since the overturning of Roe v Wade, abortion bans have swept the country, with reports of people deleting period-tracking apps because of the risk of being subpoenaed for abortions in a banned state.

Esra said he and his team discussed data privacy in detail and added that their technology is unique in the way it processes data.

Mockup of the BobiHealth app and its features.

When users enter their data, the information stays on their phones and doesn’t go to servers. Esra calls these miniature models, and they’re trained to compute on the user’s device rather than a central location.

“The miniature models we deploy to the device will support the computer. What is sent back to us are miniature models based on what we have learned, not user data,” Esra said of data protection. “It will not be possible to identify personal data from the models sent back.”

Esra compared the technology to AI auto-correction on phones – it never leaves the device.

The data processed on the device means that BobiHealth does not store or retain any of the medical data of users. The technology is still in the development phase, with patents approved, and they are working on releasing the software, Esra added.

However, some apps can still track location, and that information can be subpoenaed. If a user is at an abortion clinic while using an app that tracks them, that information could be used against them in the event of an illegal abortion in some states.

Concerns about access to care

Terrill said access to health care is one of the most important issues and she wanted everyone to know that Planned Parenthood is still here and ready to provide them with the services they can afford.

“We’re really proud of the limited primary care service lines we’ve created,” Terrill said. “So hypertension and diabetes, management, and also mental health support for depression and anxiety.”

Esra shared a similar sentiment when talking about his app, saying that sometimes women come to the doctor and no one believes them.

“They can take their phone to the doctor or print out the provider report (from the BobiHealth app) and show it to the provider,” Esra said. “We’re creating a very quick way for the provider to see a lot more information than they would get in the clinic.”

The provider reports are not generated by artificial intelligence, he said. They are created by trained medical personnel behind the app.

Even though there is a medical team on board, you should still consult your doctor before making any final medical decisions.