30 January 2025

CEO TALK: Elvie, maternity made easy

Some subjects touch us more than others, and women’s health and well-being is one of them. Here we meet Tania Boler, founder and CEO of Elvie, a company where technology and caring are one and the same.

Hello Tania, first of all, can you tell us about your background?

I have always been passionate about women’s health and studied the subject in depth during my studies at Oxford and Stanford Universities, where I gained a PhD in Sexual and Reproductive Health. As a sexual health researcher, I spent most of my early working life in roles focused on providing women with safe, quality care and access to health education.

While working for the United Nations, I was stationed in Africa and launched the very first sex education programme. At that time, I began to recognise the potential of technology to change the way we think about health – and even to accelerate the pace at which change can happen. I also began to understand some of the deep-rooted taboos around women’s health.

Before setting up Elvie, I was Global Director of Research and Innovation at Marie Stopes International, where I worked to improve sexual health in developing countries. Working directly with women around the world inspired me to champion women while understanding their unique health needs.

What led you to create Elvie?

I realised very early on that we needed to talk more about women’s health. Especially as the spectrum is so broad: from fertility to the postnatal period, via the menopause. But it was having a baby that really got me thinking.

During a stay in France (my husband is French), I discovered that it was normal for French women to take perineum re-education classes after giving birth in order to strengthen their bodies. I couldn’t believe that nothing like this existed in other countries, especially as I later learned that one in three women will experience pelvic floor problems in her lifetime.

When I looked into the matter further, I discovered that technological innovation was lacking in this area and that most of the products aimed at women and marketed at the time were simply ineffective. Real-time biofeedback is the most reliable way of encouraging women to engage in perineal rehabilitation, but this technology was only available in hospitals.

I was also aware that, although important, it can be difficult to attend prescribed rehabilitation sessions as a young mum, and we wanted to create something accessible that women could do at home.

Breastfeeding can still be a taboo subject. How does the technology developed by Elvie help mothers on a daily basis?

Although breastfeeding has made progress in France in recent years, many mothers do not feel supported by society and, unfortunately, it remains a taboo, particularly when it comes to expressing milk in public places.

Not only is breastfeeding in public still stigmatised, but our research shows that women feel they have to stay at home, losing a sense of freedom and identity when they breastfeed. After decades in the field of women’s health, I have seen at first hand the damaging effects of isolation and loneliness among new mothers, affecting both mental health and general wellbeing.

At Elvie, we pride ourselves on breaking down barriers and empowering women. We believe that every mother, every parent and every family should be able to decide where and how to feed their baby, without judgement or restriction from others.

What’s more, from a practical point of view, many women return to work while continuing to breastfeed, and we wanted to provide them with a solution that would allow them to express their milk anywhere, at any time.

What do you think all women likely to use Elvie Pump have in common?

Before the creation of a solution like Elvie Pump, breast pump technology was relatively stagnant, with little progress. In fact, many women were forced to accept a much more manual or restrictive approach, attached to a wall by wires and not at all discreet. This isn’t very rewarding for women, nor does it allow them to continue to do what they want while they’re expressing milk.

Faced with this challenge, our quality team set out to solve the breastfeeding problems that women had been enduring for far too long. With this in mind, we launched the ultimate tool for modern mums – Elvie Pump – which offers hands-free mobility, discretion and intelligent control.