Every day, a woman dies in the U.S. from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth — deaths that could often be prevented.
The stark reality is that the United States, despite being one of the world’s wealthiest nations, has a maternal mortality rate that should alarm us all.
American women are dying at rates 55% higher than those in Chile, the country with the second-highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations, according to a June 2024 report from The Commonwealth Fund.
Pregnant women in rural portions of the U.S. also often are in “maternal health deserts,” lacking adequate obstetric care. And American women are the least likely among their international peers to receive crucial support, like home visits and guaranteed paid leave.
Here in Tucson, innovators are fighting back.
A Tucson-born solution
Courtney Williams, co-founder of Emagine Solutions Technology, and her team are using a powerful tool to help improve maternal health: technology that connects women with the care they need, when they need it.
“We offer women and their medical care providers connectivity, communication, and data-driven information about all aspects of a woman’s pregnancy and condition,” Williams said. “The goal is improving outcomes.”
Williams, who holds degrees from UA’s Eller College of Management and ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, helped launch Emagine in 2017.
Their journey began with education, support, and monitoring for pregnant women, initially through a handheld ultrasound device introduced in 2020.
The real breakthrough came in 2023 with The Journey Pregnancy app — a comprehensive platform that’s transforming prenatal care.
The results speak for themselves: After marketing primarily through social media, Emagine experienced explosive 10X user growth in 2024, a trend that has continued through the first half of 2025.
Technology meets maternal care
The Journey Pregnancy App offers something remarkable: comprehensive pregnancy support that’s both sophisticated and accessible. Best of all, it’s free for users.
The app’s features address the gaps in our current maternal health system.
Through a partnership with Vital View scan technology, women can monitor their blood pressure without equipment. The app continuously tracks symptoms, medications, and side effects while providing extensive articles and research on every aspect of pregnancy.
The Journey Pregnancy App offers comprehensive pregnancy support. It's both sophisticated and accessible, and it's free for users.
It also monitors nutrition, including cravings and aversions.
Another feature of the App is a virtual doula.
Traditionally, a doula is a trained professional who works directly with expectant mothers.
In the pregnancy app, the Doula is an AI-powered assistant who provides emotional and physical support through birth.
This isn’t just about convenience, it’s about filling the dangerous gaps left by our fragmented healthcare system. When 35% of counties lack adequate maternal care, technology becomes a lifeline.
Tucson’s innovation hub
Emagine represents the best of Tucson’s growing technology ecosystem.
Founded and based in Tucson and supported by The University of Arizona Center for Innovation, the company operates from the UA Tech Park — a hub where innovative technology companies across industries are developing solutions to real-world problems.
This is what innovation looks like when it matters: local entrepreneurs identifying a national crisis and building solutions that can save lives.
The path forward
Emagine Solutions Technology represents one crucial piece of the maternal health puzzle. By providing connectivity, education, and data-based support for women at all stages of pregnancy and beyond, The Journey Pregnancy app is bringing a new level of prenatal care to patients who need it most.
The maternal health crisis in America demands urgent action from policymakers, healthcare systems, and communities. But it also requires the kind of innovative thinking that Williams and Juarez bring to the challenge—technology that puts women’s health and safety at the center of the solution.
In a country where being pregnant shouldn’t be a risk to a woman’s life, companies like Emagine are proving that innovation and compassion can work together to save lives.
The question isn’t whether we can solve this crisis — it’s whether we have the will to act.
