Erickson Coaching International and Soula plan joint research on maternal mental health. A Canadian doula trainer tells CTV she doubts an app can help with it.
On August 2, 2023, Dorcas Marfo of CTV News reported that Erickson Coaching International, a Canadian-based coaching and training institution, has teamed up with Soula. CTV describes Soula as an AI-powered health virtual assistant that helps new moms in all stages of maternity.
What the Partnership Covers
CTV News says Erickson Coaching and Soula agreed to collaborate on research into maternal mental health during and after pregnancy. They will provide educational materials and online workshops for doulas.
Erickson Coaching CEO Louise Hendey said in a press release:
"By combining broad coaching expertise, together with extensive doula knowledge and the opportunities of Generative AI, we will work to achieve great results in raising mass awareness and destigmatizing maternal mental health issues."
CTV Describes an App for Parents, Partners and Doulas
CTV News writes that the app is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. It serves partners and doulas too.
According to Erickson Coaching, as CTV reports, the assistant helps parents prepare for birth and parenthood, reduces postpartum depression and helps them cope with fears and anxieties at any stage.
CTV quotes a press release. It says Soula aims to provide an "innovative AI mental health assistant". The same release says Soula aims to help people "enjoy the unique experience of expecting a baby, get calm and confident, improve relationships with their partner, and bond with a child from the first months of pregnancy".
CTV adds that, according to Soula's website, the team is "working on creating a community of doulas who will author the content" it provides to users.
A Doula Trainer Doubts an App Can Help With Mental Health
CTV interviewed Stefanie Antunes, director of Doula Canada Training. She told CTV that today's parents have more access to information than ever, yet are doing less well than earlier generations. One reason, she says, is that parents lack practical experience. In her words:
"I think access to information is always useful, and this generation of parents has more access to information that ever before but is doing less well than previous generations. And one of the reasons for that is they lack practical experience,"
CTV reports that Antunes finds the plan to connect doulas inside the app promising for real-time answers to specific questions. Antunes sees limits too. She said:
"I need to see their baby. Truth is, most people can’t diagnose things over the phone."
She added:
"Is an app really going to help with mental health issues? It's very unlikely that it's going to be useful for that."
About Soula
Soula is an AI-powered health virtual assistant that helps new moms in all stages of maternity, according to CTV News.
Media contact: n.miranchuk@soula.care · soula.care
Sources
- Dorcas Marfo, AI Doulas? How a chatbot is helping coach pregnant women in maternity, CTV News, August 2, 2023.
- Also available at: AI Doulas? How a chatbot is helping coach pregnant women in maternity, CTV News Vancouver Island (mirror of the same article), Dorcas Marfo, August 2, 2023.