Femtech At Work

Abortion is legal across Australia, so why are so many women still turned away, forced to travel hours, or pay hundreds of dollars for essential care? In this episode, nurse practitioner and co-founder of Aunty Jane, Alison Lima, pulls back the curtain on Australia’s abortion system, the quiet gatekeeping happening behind clinic doors, and the tele-abortion model rewriting what compassionate, accessible abortion care can look like.
Care should never be one-size-fits-all. Whether it’s using AI to bridge language gaps or leveraging abortion funds to ensure no one is left behind, we’re exploring how to center the human experience in reproductive health. At the end of the day, Aunty Jane exists to fill a gap and our greatest dream is to one day see that gap closed for good.
Let’s dive in!

Key Takeaways:
Why even after decriminalisation, Australian women still face so many legal, geographic, and systemic barriers to abortion care
How a rural emergency nurse became the co-founder of Australia’s first nurse practitioner–led tele-abortion service and why this business was born from urgent need, not ambition
How Aunty Jane’s no-scan protocol safely removes mandatory ultrasounds and in what ways has ultrasound historically been used to gatekeep abortion care
Why only a small percentage of GPs and pharmacies in Australia provide medical abortion and what that means for cost, access, and equity
How tele-abortion works step-by-step at Aunty Jane from first consult to 24/7 nursing support and a 14-day follow-up focused on both clinical and emotional care
How abortion, fertility, periods, and menopause are deeply interconnected and why siloing abortion outside women’s health conversations reinforces stigma and shame
How clinicians in abortion care protect their emotional and physical safety while still using storytelling and social media to de-stigmatise abortion as routine healthcare
How AI triage tools and translation could transform support for people having abortions without replacing the human care that matters most

Resources:
Alison Lima: LinkedIn
Aunty Jane Health: LinkedIn
Aunty Jane Health: https://www.auntyjanehealth.com/
Maaike Steinebach LinkedIn
Website Femtech Future: https://www.femtechfuture.com
Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future

Your body, your story, your choice. You deserve more than gatekeeping and whispers. If Alison’s story changed how you view abortion care in Australia, don't let the conversation end when the audio stops.
Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. Start a dialogue in your own circle. Help us move abortion care out of the shadows and into the heart of healthcare exactly where it belongs. This isn't just a podcast; it’s a call to treat reproductive care as the routine, compassionate service it is. We stand with the women and clinicians who refuse to wait for permission to do what is right.
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time!

For years, women were told, “It’s just pain.” What happens when that pain is turned into hard data that doctors can’t ignore?
In this episode of FemTech at Work, we have Samantha (Sam) Costa, nurse practitioner, midwife and founder of Charlie Health, a clinically designed women’s health platform built in Australia for women across the reproductive lifespan. Sam shares how years of working in fertility and women’s health clinics, from tertiary hospitals to remote Indigenous communities in Cape York, exposed the huge gap between what period and fertility apps promise and what women actually experience. That frustration and award‑winning research into cycle‑tracking apps sparked the idea for Charli Health- a hybrid model that combines a powerful cycle and symptom tracker with access to real clinicians via a virtual clinic.
For listeners, this episode is an invitation to know your body better, track your health before there’s a problem, and be part of closing the gender health and pain gaps one data point and one conversation at a time.

Key Takeaways:
Find out how a nurse practitioner’s frustration with popular period apps led to the creation of a clinically designed women’s health platform
Discover why turning “it’s just some pain” into longitudinal data can change how seriously GPs take women’s symptoms
Learn how Charli Health’s hybrid model (app + virtual clinic) is redefining access to women’s health care across rural, remote and metro Australia
Understand how ring‑fenced, women‑specific AI and local clinical guidelines make Charli Health different from generic tools like ChatGPT
Discover why well-women, not just those with diagnoses, should be tracking their cycles, pain and hormones from their teens onwards
Find out how data from Charli Health could help with earlier recognition of conditions like endometriosis without relying solely on invasive surgery
Understand how Charli Health is working to be culturally safe and relevant for First Nations women and diverse language and education backgrounds
Discover what most founders get wrong when they start with tech instead of a real clinical problem and how Sam avoided that trap

Resources:
Samantha Costa: LinkedIn
Charli Health: LinkedIn
Charli Health: https://charli.health/
Maaike Steinebach LinkedIn
Website Femtech Future: https://www.femtechfuture.com
Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future

Your body has been talking to you for years. Are you finally ready to listen? Press play now to hear how Charli Health is transforming women’s pain, periods and fertility journeys into powerful data, real diagnoses and life‑changing care and to discover what’s possible when women refuse to be dismissed.
If this episode moved you, be part of the movement: share it with a friend who needs to hear it, hit like, and leave a review so more women can find these stories. See you next week for another episode of FemTech at Work, where we spotlight the founders and innovators reshaping women’s health.

In this episode, we’re joined by Amelia Godfrey, the pelvic health physio and founder of Pelvy, who’s rewriting the rules of care. Too often, issues like leaking, pain, and postpartum recovery are dismissed or hidden in shame, but Amelia is changing that narrative.
We dive into how Pelvy uses thoughtful tech to bridge the gap between evidence-based education and real-world results. From breaking "poo taboos" to simplifying rehab, this conversation is an invitation to rethink what’s possible when clinical advocacy meets innovation.

Key Takeaways:
Discover how a pelvic health physio became a global FemTech founder, and what gap in care Amelia sees that made Pelvy non‑negotiable to build
Learn why pelvic health physio is considered first‑line treatment and how it can transform outcomes for leaking, prolapse, pain, and constipation before surgery is even on the table
Find out why up to 30% of pelvic health appointments get cancelled and what this reveals about shame, overwhelm, and the “too hard basket” in intimate health care
Understand how Pelvy turns forgotten advice into daily action and what the in‑session clinician workflow actually looks like for patients inside the app
Discover how personalised cues, timing, and breathwork matter and how a single well-chosen cue can change the way someone uses their pelvic floor
Learn why cultural background and family norms shape pelvic health and what surprising practices from Eastern traditions actually align with modern evidence
Find out how Pelvy supports men’s pelvic health too, and why men often suffer in silence, and how the app is designed to include them
Understand the sacrifices behind a bootstrapped FemTech startup and what Amelia gives up—financially, personally, geographically to keep Pelvy alive
Discover how clinician feedback reshapes the product in real time and how a simple “template” feature radically increased usage and impact
Learn what myths about “normal” pelvic function Amelia wants retired and how challenging those beliefs could change someone’s quality of life today

Resources:
Amelia Godfrey: LinkedIn
Pelvy: LinkedIn
Pelvy: https://pelvy.app/
Maaike Steinebach LinkedIn
Website Femtech Future: https://www.femtechfuture.com
Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future

Your pelvic health doesn’t have to be an afterthought, a taboo, or a lifetime of “this is just how it is.” It’s the silent foundation of how we move, love, parent, age, and show up in the world. If this resonated with you, be part of the movement, share this episode with someone who needs it, like and review the show so more listeners can find these stories, and join us again next week for another powerful conversation on FemTech at Work.

What happens when an elite runner is praised for losing her period in the name of performance until it nearly breaks her body, and forces her to truly listen to it?
In this episode, elite runner, coach, and Femmi co-founder Lydia O’Donnell joins us for a raw and honest conversation about disordered eating, hormone health, and how training with her menstrual cycle helped her rebuild performance, health and confidence from the ground up.
If you care about women’s health, sport, or creating solutions that are genuinely built for women, this is an episode that will stay with you long after it ends.

Key Takeaways:
Find out how losing her period and being told it was a “good thing” pushed Lydia to completely rethink her body, her health and her running
Learn why most coaching and sports science still default to male bodies and what that actually does to girls and women in sport
Understand how FEMI went from one-to-one coaching on five messy platforms to a single app that connects training, cycle tracking, learning and community
Find out what questions FEMI asks on onboarding (from goals to PBs to cycle info) to make training feel like having your own coach in your pocket.
Discover what it’s really like pitching to 100+ investors as female founders building only for women, and why the 2% funding stat hits so hard
earn how FEMI’s Friday women-only run communities and new in-app groups help women find their tribe, whether they’re in Auckland, London or Hong Kong
Understand Lydia’s vision for using AI, wearables and hormone data to build truly hyper-personalised training
Find out how reframing “bad” training days as normal hormonal shifts can stop women from blaming their bodies and start trusting them
Discover Lydia’s one big piece of advice for founders in women’s health who feel scared to start but know the system wasn’t built for them

Resources:
Lydia O’Donnell: LinkedIn
Femmi: LinkedIn
Femmi: https://www.femmi.co/
Maaike Steinebach LinkedIn
Website Femtech Future: https://www.femtechfuture.com
Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future

Hit play on this episode and walk alongside Lydia as she turns “just push harder” into “listen to your body” and shows what happens when running, hormones and women’s health finally line up. If you’ve ever thought sport wasn’t really built for you, this conversation might just change the way you move and how you see yourself.
This isn’t just a story about an app; it’s about women refusing to shrink themselves to fit into systems that were never built for them and building new ones instead. You can be part of it.
If this episode moved you, be part of the movement, share it with a friend, hit like, and leave a quick review so more people can find these stories.
See you next week on FemTech at Work for another honest conversation with a founder changing the future of women’s health!

When a man launches a women’s mental health fundraiser and accidentally builds Australia’s leading organisation for women’s mental health, something in the system is clearly broken and ready for change. This episode is a front-row seat to that transformation.
In this episode of Femtech at Work, we sit down with Luke Morris, founder and CEO of Women’s Mental Health Australia (formerly the Liptember Foundation), to unpack how a quirky fundraising idea turned into a national movement reshaping women’s mental health across the lifespan.
You’ll hear how mental health systems were historically built on male data, and how Women’s Mental Health Australia is closing the gap by connecting women’s physical and mental health—from PMDD and PCOS to perinatal mental health and menopause.
If you care about women’s health, gender equity, or simply want to understand how one idea can shift a national conversation, this episode will challenge, inspire, and move you to action.

Key Takeaways:
Find out how a casual fundraising idea based on lipstick evolved into Australia’s leading women’s mental health organisation
Discover why a male founder chose women’s mental health as his life’s work and what this says about true male allyship
How mental health systems built on male physiology and data have failed women in both research and clinical practice
Understand how conditions like PMDD and PCOS dramatically increase women’s mental health burden and why they’re so often overlooked
Discover how gender-disaggregated data is rewriting the story of women’s mental health in Australia
Find out how a long-term partnership with Chemist Warehouse became the catalyst that took Liptember from a small fundraiser to a national force
Learn how Women’s Mental Health Australia uses annual research to decide where every donated dollar can have the most impact
Understand why geography, city vs regional and remote, still shapes access to quality mental health care for women
Discover how new programs like the Working Mothers initiative aim to support women navigating the return to work after childbirth

Resources:
Luke Morris: LinkedIn
Women’s Mental Health Australia: LinkedIn
Women’s Mental Health Australia: https://www.womensmentalhealthaustralia.org.au/
Maaike Steinebach LinkedIn
Website Femtech Future: https://www.femtechfuture.com
Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future

This episode with Luke Morris is more than a story about a charity. It's a blueprint for how courage, data, and relentless advocacy can reshape an entire system for women.
If this conversation opened your eyes to how deeply the system has failed women, don’t let it stop at awareness. Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it, and become part of the movement that’s rewriting the story of women’s mental health. Let's keep amplifying voices that move women’s health forward.
Thank you, and see you next week for another powerful episode of Femtech at Work.