Building Better Breastfeeding Support in FemTech | Blush & Bloom Podcast | Ep. 39

Breastfeeding is often described as natural, yet for many mothers it becomes one of the hardest and loneliest parts of early motherhood. The tools meant to help, from breast pumps to lactation advice, frequently leave mothers feeling unsupported, uncomfortable, or unsure where to turn.

In this episode of Blush & Bloom, host Gigi Kenneth talks with Jerome Derycke, co-founder of Lileo, a Belgian maternal care company that helps mothers continue breastfeeding with more comfort, guidance, and support. Lileo combines an innovative breast pump, a lactation app, and a subscription based service model designed around what mothers actually need.

Together, they explore what it takes to build hardware in FemTech, why the early motherhood journey needs more than a good product, and what more than four years of testing with real mothers taught Jerome about serving women's health.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• Why Lileo pairs a breast pump with a lactation app and a service model
• What building maternal health hardware looks like over four and a half years before a first sale
• The prototype moment that proved mothers were connected to the product
• What testing with more than 160 mothers revealed that no market report could
• Advice for founders building products that take time to test
• What it means to build in women's health as a man, and without a medical background
• A message for breastfeeding mothers navigating the early days

Why does maternal health need more than a good product?

Early motherhood is an intense, emotional period, and Jerome argues that a working product alone is not enough. Mothers need to feel supported through the experience, not just handed a device. Without that service layer, he says, you are only bringing one part of the puzzle.

That belief shapes how Lileo is built. The breast pump is paired with a lactation app that provides expert guidance, plus a subscription based service so mothers feel accompanied rather than left to figure things out alone. The goal is to connect to what a mother is actually going through, well beyond her interaction with the device itself.

🛠️ Building Hardware in FemTech Takes Time

Lileo spent about four and a half years in development before its first sales. What kept the team going through years of building, fundraising, and problem solving was the steady stream of feedback from mothers. Every conversation validated the problem and confirmed it was urgent and worth solving.

The turning point came with the first functional prototype, which Jerome affectionately describes as an ugly, oversized box with clumsy buttons. It was not pretty, but it worked, and one of the testing mothers wanted to keep using it over the pump she already owned. That was the signal the team needed: if a mother preferred a rough prototype to a polished product, they were onto something real.

What did testing with mothers reveal?

Testing with more than 160 mothers surfaced insights no market report could. The team learned that a breast pump that is efficient and comfortable for one mother may not suit another at all, so there is no single right answer for every body.

They also noticed a pattern in how mothers chose products. Many picked all in one wearable pumps because of how they looked, then quietly complained about efficiency and fell back on older, less convenient options. Those tensions between how a product looks and how it actually performs became the clues that shaped what Lileo set out to build.

💪 Building in Women's Health Without a Medical Background

Jerome came into maternal health from a background in investment and consulting, not medicine, and he sees that as something to work through rather than a disqualifier. His advice to founders in the same position is to go deep and get genuinely close to the problem.

"Even if you are not a subject matter expert, you need to educate yourself on the topic."

For Jerome that meant taking existing breast pumps apart, evaluating them, and learning the product inside out until, in his words, he knew more about breast pumps than most health professionals. Alongside that, he leaned on experts, involving health professionals throughout the entire development process rather than building in isolation.

🤝 What About Being a Man Building in FemTech?

Building a product for an experience he will never have himself means Jerome has to stay especially close to the women Lileo serves. His approach is direct: keep mothers at the center of product development, and never assume you know how something feels.

"The best way to clear your doubt is to directly ask women about it."

He describes openly checking that mothers feel comfortable with him being present while they test the product, and treating their input as the source of truth. Leading the company is one thing; sitting beside a mother testing your device and listening carefully is another, and he treats that closeness as essential.

💗 A Message for Breastfeeding Mothers

Asked what he would say to a mother listening, beyond trying Lileo, Jerome's answer centers on trust. So many people have opinions about how breastfeeding should go, and he believes mothers should trust themselves first. What matters is knowing that reliable help and trustworthy sources of information are out there when they need them.

It is a fitting note for a product built entirely around listening. Lileo's whole approach, from the podcast the team started to the hundreds of mothers they tested with, comes back to the same idea: mothers know their own experience, and good maternal care starts by taking that seriously.

FAQ

What is Lileo? Lileo is a Belgian maternal care company co-founded by Jerome Derycke. It offers a subscription based breastfeeding solution that combines an innovative breast pump with a lactation app providing expert guidance, designed to help mothers continue breastfeeding with more comfort and support.

How long did it take to build Lileo? About four and a half years of development before the first sales. The team tested prototypes with more than 160 mothers and used their feedback to refine both the hardware and the service around it.

Why does Lileo combine a breast pump with a service model? Jerome argues that a good product alone is not enough during the intense early motherhood period. Mothers need to feel supported through the experience, so Lileo pairs the device with a lactation app and a service layer rather than selling hardware on its own.

Can you build in women's health without a medical background? Yes. Jerome came from investment and consulting and advises founders to educate themselves deeply on the topic, learn the product intimately, and surround themselves with health professionals throughout development.

What did testing with mothers teach the team? That comfort and efficiency vary from mother to mother, and that mothers often choose pumps for their look while struggling with performance. Those real world tensions guided Lileo's product decisions in ways market research could not.

💬 Final Thoughts

This episode is a clear-eyed look at what it takes to build breastfeeding support that mothers actually trust. Jerome Derycke's story shows that maternal health products succeed not through clever hardware alone, but through years of listening, testing, and keeping mothers at the center. For anyone building in FemTech, or any mother navigating the early days, the throughline is the same: start by listening, and build from there.

👥 Connect with the Guest

Jerome Derycke: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeromederycke/

Gigi Kenneth (Host): https://www.linkedin.com/in/gigikenneth

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