Laura Cartwright – Director, Strategy and Marketing, Una Health and Femme Health.

Women’s health has been underserved in diagnostics for decades. From fertility struggles to conditions like PCOS, perimenopause, and pregnancy complications, delayed diagnosis is common with real consequences for patient outcomes and healthcare costs.

Laboratory and POCT teams in the NHS are acutely aware of this challenge. Yet they often sit at a distance from the people whose lives their work impacts, working within a system where diagnostic pathways have not always kept pace with women’s needs. At the same time, more women are turning to consumer health technologies to fill these gaps, tracking cycles, hormones, and symptoms outside of the clinic.

The future of women’s diagnostics lies in bringing these two worlds together: hospital-grade diagnostics that improve outcomes in the healthcare system, and consumer-led solutions that empower women to understand their own health earlier in the journey.

Diagnostics Driving Change in the Healthcare System

At Una Health, our mission is to improve access to innovative diagnostics that make a measurable difference to outcomes in underserved areas. In women’s health, that means focusing on conditions where better testing can directly reduce morbidity and mortality, or prevent long-term complications.

PLGF for pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia remains one of the leading causes of maternal and neonatal morbidity worldwide. Placental growth factor (PLGF) testing offers earlier, more reliable insights for clinicians, supporting faster decision-making and more tailored antenatal care. By introducing tests like PLGF into NHS pathways, we can not only improve maternal outcomes but also reduce unnecessary admissions and interventions.

This is just one example of how innovation in diagnostics can address critical gaps in women’s health when implemented within healthcare systems.

Empowering Women Beyond the Clinic

But while hospital-based innovation is vital, it doesn’t always address the years of uncertainty many women face before they reach a specialist. This is where consumer-led diagnostics and health tools play a complementary role. By giving women access to reliable, actionable information at home, they can better understand their bodies, advocate for their health, and take informed steps earlier in their journey.

Through femme, Una Health’s women’s health platform, we’re working to close these gaps directly by supporting consumer brands who aim to make a real difference for women:

• Tempdrop: a wearable sensor that tracks basal body temperature continuously, helping women accurately identify ovulation and better understand their cycles.
• Proov: at-home hormone tests that provide insight into ovulation quality and progesterone levels, enabling women to see the full picture of their fertility.
• NG Precision: all-in-one whole blood pregnancy test for simpler, faster and more convenient testing.

These tools don’t replace clinical diagnostics; they complement them. They provide women with agency in an area where traditional healthcare pathways can be slow to respond, particularly in fertility and menstrual health.

Why the Blend Matters

What makes this approach unique is the combination of professional diagnostics and consumer health innovation. Laboratories and POCT teams are central to ensuring quality, accuracy, and clinical relevance in healthcare diagnostics. Yet the reality is that many women experience delays or barriers before they ever reach that point.

By building bridges between the two, we create a model where:

• Clinicians and labs can deliver better outcomes with earlier, more precise tools.
• Women gain access to information and support in the years before clinical intervention.
• The healthcare system benefits from reduced burden, earlier interventions, and improved long-term health economics.

This dual focus recognises that diagnostics doesn’t happen in isolation. It exists within a broader patient journey that spans both healthcare settings and personal experiences.

Looking Ahead

The future of women’s diagnostics will not be confined to a single setting. Instead, it will be hybrid:

• Hospital-based innovation tackling urgent, life-threatening conditions like pre-eclampsia.
• At-home solutions empowering women with the knowledge and confidence to understand their health sooner.

At Una Health, through both our professional portfolio and our consumer-facing work with femme, we are committed to shaping this future. Because a healthier future for women means diagnostics that meet them wherever they are – in clinics, in hospitals, and at home.

Contact enquiries@unahealth.co.uk for more information.