What It Really Means to Build for African Women | Blush & Bloom Podcast | Ep. 17 with Dr. Patience, Founder of MyLurah

Gigi
Oct 7
3 min read

When it comes to women’s health, Africa still faces one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates and yet, African women remain underrepresented in research, technology, and healthcare design.

In this episode of Blush & Bloom, I spoke with Dr. Patience, medical doctor, public health specialist, and founder of MyLurah, a femtech platform created to support Black and African women through menstruation, pregnancy, and postpartum care.

She’s also the co-founder of the Mom and Me Foundation, a maternal and child health NGO working across Northern Nigeria to reduce preventable deaths through education, access, and culturally sensitive healthcare.

Dr. Patience shared how her experiences in clinical medicine and public health inspired her to build for women like herself, women often overlooked by global health solutions and underrepresented in data.

In This Episode, We Cover

✨ The realities of maternal health in Nigeria and why 20% of global maternal deaths happen here

✨ What it means to design healthcare “in our language” — culturally and literally

✨ The challenges of building digital health tools for women with limited internet access

✨ How traditional birth attendants can become allies, not obstacles, in safer childbirth

✨ Why community and culture still shape women’s health outcomes

✨ How MyLurah bridges postpartum care gaps often ignored in mainstream femtech

Reimagining Care for African Women

“Every woman deserves care that understands her,” says Dr. Patience.

For her, building MyLurah was about more than creating another period tracker — it was about building a companion app that sees African women.

From using local languages to recommending foods and remedies that reflect our culture, MyLurah redefines what accessible care should look like.

The app helps women track periods, pregnancies, and postpartum recovery, offering recommendations and alerts for danger signs — all localized for African users.

Maternal Health Beyond Birth

Through the Mom and Me Foundation, Dr. Patience and her team educate women in rural communities about antenatal care, nutrition, and early warning signs during pregnancy.

But their work doesn’t stop there.“Many women die weeks after giving birth,” she explains. “Once the baby arrives, society forgets the mother — but that’s when she needs care the most.”

By combining education, digital health tools, and partnerships with trusted local birth attendants, they’re closing a gap that has existed for decades.

Why Language and Culture Matter

In Northern Nigeria, most women don’t speak English fluently — yet many digital health apps are only in English.

MyLurah aims to change that by offering multilingual options and culturally grounded communication that builds trust.

“Care that speaks your language isn’t just about translation,” Dr. Patience says. “It’s about recognizing what matters most to the woman you’re caring for — her beliefs, her fears, her culture, her story.”

About Our Guest: Dr. Patience

Dr. Patience is a medical doctor, public health expert, and femtech founder passionate about transforming maternal and child health in Africa.

She leads MyLurah, a digital health platform for African women, and co-founded the Mom and Me Foundation, a nonprofit tackling maternal mortality in Nigeria through education and access.

Connect with Dr. Patience:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patienceamos/

• Website: https://mylurah.com/

• Mom and Me Foundation: https://momandmefoundation.org/