{"id":46302,"date":"2026-05-27T12:01:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T16:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=46302"},"modified":"2026-05-27T12:05:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T16:05:36","slug":"a-pregnancy-app-that-centers-womens-wellness","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/a-pregnancy-app-that-centers-womens-wellness\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pregnancy App That Centers Women\u2019s Wellness"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin bu-blocks-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-wider has-box has-media-focus-center-middle\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"800\" height=\"1199\" src=\"\/com\/files\/2026\/05\/comtalk-madison-dent-banner.jpeg\" class=\"\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2026\/05\/comtalk-madison-dent-banner.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2026\/05\/comtalk-madison-dent-banner-424x636.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2026\/05\/comtalk-madison-dent-banner-683x1024.jpeg 683w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2026\/05\/comtalk-madison-dent-banner-768x1151.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2026\/05\/comtalk-madison-dent-banner-667x1000.jpeg 667w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA Pregnancy App That Centers Women\u2019s Wellness\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Media Ventures student Madison Dent (COM\u201926) is turning a yoga concept into a one-stop prenatal app<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-categories\">\n\t\t\t<ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/category\/student-work\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Work\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">May 27, 2026<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/authors\/sangmin-song\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSangmin Song\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div style=\"display:none;\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-inner js-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t\t<h4>Share<\/h4>\n\t\t<p class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-article-title\">A Pregnancy App That Centers Women\u2019s Wellness<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-article-link\">\n\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" value=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/a-pregnancy-app-that-centers-womens-wellness\/\" readonly>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<label>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Copy URL:<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"js-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>Copy<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/label>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Mobile apps now help women track and prepare for almost every stage of pregnancy: how big is the fetus, what symptoms should I expect, when to expect the baby to kick, and how to time contractions, to name a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But for expecting women who want to keep moving and taking care of themselves, the answers are coming from a handful of apps and can feel disconnected. One app tracks the baby. Another offers general fitness. Another focuses on meditation. Each might help, but women are often left piecing together what is safe, trustworthy, and centered on their own bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That is the gap Madison Dent kept seeing, and it\u2019s a problem she thinks she has an answer for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dent (COM\u201926), a graduate student in COM\u2019s MS in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/programs\/film-television\/ms-in-media-ventures\/\">Media Ventures program<\/a>, is developing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/innovate\/profile\/bendi\/\">Bendi<\/a>, a digital wellness app built around the idea that wellness support during pregnancy should feel safe, accessible and centered on the women using it. She and her app have been accepted into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/innovate\/programs-competitions\/summer-accelerator\/\">Innovate@BU\u2019s Summer Accelerator<\/a>, and she\u2019ll present Bendi at the Media Ventures Pitchfest in Los Angeles in July, where students pitch their thesis projects to industry professionals and investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBendi is a holistic wellness app for every stage of pregnancy,\u201d Dent says. \u201cWe offer prenatal yoga, guided meditation and community support for a new generation of digitally aware, wellness-minded women.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dent says getting into the 10-week accelerator\u2014where students and recent alumni building early-stage ventures receive mentorship, workshops, and up to $10,000 in funding\u2014gives her the time and support to focus fully on Bendi after months of developing the idea through classes, pitches, and customer interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt gives you such a great advantage and such a great ability to just be like, \u2018OK, I can go in 100% on this and really see how far I can take it,\u2019\u201d Dent says. \u201cIt\u2019s personally, professionally validating, and is a big step in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>The Roots of a Business<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The idea for Bendi started before Dent came to BU. Her mother, Lisa Dent, ran a yoga and Pilates studio, exposing Madison Dent to wellness and entrepreneurship from an early age.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMadison didn\u2019t just hear about entrepreneurship, she lived inside of it,\u201d Lisa Dent says. \u201cAt the time, I don\u2019t think she fully grasped what it meant, but she absorbed it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later, Dent would launch a business of her own, Madison Louise Yoga, a business built around yoga, meditation and holistic coaching for women. Dent says she began hearing from prenatal clients who were unsure what kind of guidance they could trust during pregnancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c\u2018There\u2019s stuff on the internet, but nothing feels like it\u2019s speaking to me right now,\u2019\u201d Dent recalls a client saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because she was working with the client one-on-one, Dent created personalized mantras, meditations and safe yoga practices. But the question stayed with her: \u201cIf she has that fear, a lot of other women probably do,\u201d Dent says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As her work with clients grew, Dent noticed that many of the women coming to her were mothers or expecting mothers. She says pregnancy stood out because women\u2019s bodies change quickly during that period, and many look for reassurance during an emotionally sensitive time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s such a time that\u2019s worthy of comprehensive care,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd it was what I knew how to do, and it\u2019s what I\u2019m passionate about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dent thinks about Bendi not only as a pregnancy app, but as a way to focus on the women carrying babies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPeople know how a baby goes from acorn to a walnut to grapefruit, but those changes are also reflected in the body of the mother,\u201d Dent says. \u201cSo there are not a lot of apps that do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>The BU Boost<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Dent says she arrived at BU with the seed of the idea, but the MS in Media Ventures program helped turn Bendi into a fuller business concept, with a target audience, pitch deck, prototype, business model and marketing plan. The 12-month, three-term master\u2019s program teaches students to develop new media businesses, products and services, with a fall semester in Boston and spring and summer terms through BULA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI began to develop it throughout the course of the program,\u201d Dent says. \u201cEvery Friday, we were able to all come together and develop out the idea, what would this look like, who would this help and what would the market be for this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That process also pushed Dent to think beyond the wellness content itself. Because Bendi would deal with pregnancy, she says safety and medical accountability had to be part of the platform from the beginning. Dent says Bendi\u2019s resources are being shaped with input from obstetrician-gynecologists (OB\/GYNs), doulas, and instructors trained in prenatal yoga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI knew from the start that if we were going to do this specifically for pregnancy, an area that is so often ridden by fear and safety, we needed to have that credibility,\u201d Dent says. \u201cI think that combination between holistic wellness and credentialed medical expertise is the magic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/profile\/jodi-luber\/\" data-type=\"profile\" data-id=\"26150\">Jodi Luber<\/a>, senior associate dean and associate professor of the practice in media innovation, says Bendi stood out because her idea addresses a market where many resources were still scattered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWomen shouldn\u2019t have to piece together trusted resources from five different platforms and five different apps,\u201d Luber says. \u201cBendi is about convenience [and] continuity during this very important time in a woman\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luber says that ability to understand the customer is what has made Dent\u2019s work stand out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cShe saw a fragmented market,\u201d Luber says. \u201cShe understood her customer deeply, really deeply. She saw a solution with real purpose, and that\u2019s what great founders do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dent will use the accelerator to film content for the app, seek additional investor funding, and prepare Bendi for its Minimum Viable Product (MVP) beta launch in the fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After she presents Bendi at Pitchfest in July, the app will be on display again at the Summer Accelerator Demo Day in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of it builds momentum behind a platform Dent hopes will eventually expand beyond pregnancy into postpartum and fertility support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">\u201cI run consumer-centered businesses,\u201d Dent says. \u201cI\u2019m listening to the audience more than anyone else, and so I need to make sure what we\u2019re doing is resonating.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mobile apps now help women track and prepare for almost every stage of pregnancy: how big is the fetus, what&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1654,"featured_media":46306,"template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"categories":[876],"tags":[304],"bu-publication":[],"discipline-type":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/46302"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1654"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/46302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46308,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/46302\/revisions\/46308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46302"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=46302"},{"taxonomy":"discipline-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/discipline-type?post=46302"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=46302"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=46302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}