SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In honor of Women's Health Month, ŌURA, maker of Oura Ring, the most accurate and trusted smart ring, today launched Be the Expert in You, a month-long, multi-channel campaign dedicated to giving every woman's body a voice. The Finnish company has been steadily adding to its slate of women's health features and research since 2021 and, throughout the month of May, will be introducing additional features, innovative studies, and personal stories from both employees and members to promote body literacy for women of all ages.
Be the Expert in You marks the latest development in Oura’s commitment to delivering products and research that are designed for women and provide a holistic approach to health. This is the most recent of many women's health investments from the company, including the launch of its Pregnancy Insights feature, the publication of trailblazing fertility research with the University of California, Berkeley, and the first wearable integration with FDA-cleared birth control app Natural Cycles.
“Female health conditions receive only one percent of global healthcare research funding, which has created a significant knowledge gap that hinders women from fully understanding basic information about their bodies,” said Dr. Neta Gotlieb, product manager for women’s health at Oura. “For example, a recent survey found that one in four women do not understand their menstrual cycle. Oura is uniquely positioned to be a critical partner for women to close this information gap and become experts in themselves through comprehensive data, personalized insights, and ongoing research on a variety of women's health topics.”
Introducing More Features Designed for Women
In the coming weeks, Oura will introduce two new women’s health updates in the Oura App. The latest enhancement to Oura's period tracking feature, Cycle Insights, will provide members with even more details about their cycles. Now, users will receive data about their cycle regularity, typical cycle length, and typical period length so they can learn patterns and seek care if needed, especially those with irregular cycles and women in perimenopause. Oura members will also be able to share this information through the new Cycle Insights Report, a comprehensive report designed in partnership with members of Oura's Medical Advisory Board. Cycle Insights Report will include cycle length, period length, temperature variation charts, cycle variability, and more to help women feel seen and empowered in conversations with their healthcare professionals.
“Personal data can be an extremely validating tool for women who have irregular cycles, but until recently, it has not been widely accessible,” said Holly Shelton, chief product officer at Oura. “Fifty-nine percent of women have sought treatment from doctors who did not believe them or ignored their needs, and our hope is that we can equip our members with the tools needed to advocate for themselves and their health.”
In addition to Cycle Insights, Oura will update the algorithm behind its Readiness Score to take into account the natural physiological fluctuations that occur throughout a woman's menstrual cycle, such as increased temperature and heart rate and decreased heart rate variability (HRV) during the luteal phase. With this update, members enrolled in Cycle Insights will not see decreases in their Readiness Scores as a result of their normal, cyclical biometric changes, making it a more accurate measurement of wellness.
"Female physiology differs dramatically from male physiology, which makes it necessary to create algorithms that address the needs of both," said Shelton. "We are committed to continuing to improve the Oura experience for our female members by delivering data and insights that accurately and comprehensively explain what's happening in their bodies every day."
Expanding Research for Underserved Populations
On May 16, at the Women of Wearables Menopause 2.0 Conference, Oura and Clue will unveil new research findings from both Oura Ring and the Clue App that illustrate the impacts of perimenopause and menopause. As part of that research, a recent analysis of Oura member tagging data found that when comparing women ages 45-54 to women ages 25-34, women in the perimenopausal age range are 56% more likely to tag migraine, 57% more likely to tag hot flashes, and 41% more likely to tag night sweats. These preliminary findings mark the first step in an exciting collaboration between the two organizations to shed light on the myriad of ways that menopause can affect overall well-being, with an additional collaboration with researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, coming soon.
“Our science agenda to advance women's health consists of several large-scale studies with leading academic institutions, and we are proud to introduce new research during the month of May that will give more women a better understanding of their bodies,” said Alicia Clausel, clinical research scientist at Oura. “No matter your age or your fertility status, every woman should have the resources they need to manage their health.”
Growing an Ecosystem of Women’s Health Partners
To continue delivering a comprehensive product offering and expansive research agenda, Oura is committed to establishing connections with leading women's health partners. In 2022, Oura partnered with Natural Cycles, the first FDA-cleared birth control app, to allow members to sync temperature-trend data straight from the Oura Ring, offering a convenient and accurate alternative to measuring their temperature manually. As of March 2024, 30% of female Oura members in their thirties and 41% of female members in their twenties were using the Oura and Natural Cycles integration.
Over the last year, Oura has expanded its women's health integrations with other leaders in the space, including Clue, Glow, and Flo, to allow members to dive deeper into their data and insights using whichever platform best meets their needs. The company is actively growing this list to include additional women's health partners so that no matter where or how a person chooses to track, Oura can be a measurement companion.
Designing the Future of Wearable Tech for Women, by Women
Oura is proud to have a strong group of women at the helm of these features, research studies, and partnerships. Throughout the month of May, many of them will share their own Oura stories that have helped shape the company's vision and mission to give every body a voice. Among them is Dorothy Kilroy, Oura's chief commercial officer, who has spearheaded Oura's partnership efforts in the women's health space and grown the commercial business to include collaborations with over 800 organizations.
“When we think of women's health, we tend to boil it down to reproductive health, when in reality, it is so much more than that,” said Dorothy Kilroy, chief commercial officer at Oura. “For me personally, juggling being a mom and my professional career was extremely overwhelming. Seeing my scores and Oura data has helped inform me what's happening to my body beyond my cycle. I can see the bigger shifts in my ability to manage stress, and how my transition to menopause was impacting my sleep, my activity, and even my mood. We are finally building tools to connect the dots for women throughout all phases of their lives.”
The Be the Expert in You campaign is a multi-channel media campaign featuring two full-page print advertisements in The New York Times Style Section, a custom-branded video in collaboration with Vogue, and several digital display advertisements. In addition, the company will be releasing four videos throughout the month to tell the stories of the women working behind the scenes at Oura and the motivation behind making Oura Ring the smart ring of choice for women.
For more information, visit ouraring.com/womens-health.
About ŌURA:
ŌURA is the company behind Oura Ring—the smart ring that delivers personalized health data, insights, and daily guidance. With sleep as its foundation, Oura Membership fosters healthy habits to make wellness and recovery a mindful, daily practice. Validated against medical gold standards and driven by continuous monitoring of individual biometrics, the lightweight and comfortable Oura Ring is one of the most accurate wearables available. For organizations, Oura For Business connects individual well-being with collective outcomes by making performance measurable, actionable, and attainable. Founded in Finland with offices in Oulu, Helsinki, San Francisco, and San Diego, ŌURA has raised more than $350 million and is valued at $2.55 billion. For more information, please visit http://ouraring.com/.
Oura Ring is not a medical device and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, monitor, or prevent medical conditions/illnesses.
