For decades, women’s health has been underrepresented in both research and technology. Medical studies have historically centered on male physiology, leading to data gaps in areas such as hormonal health, reproductive patterns, and chronic conditions that disproportionately affect women. However, today, a new generation of wearable technologies is starting to bridge that gap. From menstrual tracking and fertility monitoring to stress and sleep analysis, wearables are empowering women to understand their bodies on a deeper level and helping healthcare providers tailor their treatment with greater precision.
Wearable technology offers continuous, objective insights into women’s health across all stages of life. However, its potential goes far beyond individual wellness. At Thryve, we believe it represents an opportunity to advance research, improve early detection, and close long-standing gender data gaps. As we’ll explore, the future of women’s health lies in integrating wearable intelligence into preventive care systems, digital therapeutics, and insurance models that value real-world evidence.
Women’s health is unique and complex. Hormonal cycles, pregnancy, menopause, and conditions like endometriosis introduce biological fluctuations that traditional one-time clinical tests fail to capture. For example, according to the German Endometriosis Association, in Europe, endometriosis affects around 14 million women and is the second most common gynecological disease. Moreover, this condition has a significant economic impact, with one study estimating the economic damage at approximately €77.46 billion per year across nine European countries. Diagnosis delays are common, often taking years, but rates of diagnosis are rising, with the highest prevalence in women aged 35-49This variability has made it harder to detect patterns, personalize treatments, or even include women meaningfully in research studies.
Wearables are changing this dynamic by providing continuous, longitudinal data. Instead of relying on periodic checkups, they enable 24/7 tracking of key metrics such as heart rate variability (HRV), skin temperature, stress levels, and sleep patterns, all of which are influenced by hormonal and emotional factors.
Key opportunities include:
By offering real-world, real-time evidence, wearables help bring women’s physiology into sharper scientific and clinical focus.
Due to long waiting times for annual gynecologist visits, many women get delayed or only partial treatment. The overworked and understaffed medical workforce is not enough on its own to provide a full, comprehensive female health assessment. Wearable technologies can contribute to both patients and healthcare providers in:
1. Menstrual and Fertility Tracking
Devices and apps like Ava, Clue, and Oura are transforming how women monitor cycles, ovulation, and fertility. Continuous physiological monitoring provides more accurate ovulation windows than calendar-based models.
2. Stress and Mental Health Monitoring
Women experience higher rates of anxiety and stress-related disorders, often tied to hormonal changes. HRV and sleep-based insights help identify early warning signs, enabling lifestyle or therapeutic interventions. Check our blog post on stress management with wearables!
3. Pregnancy and Postpartum Monitoring
Wearables that monitor maternal sleep, heart rate, and activity can detect complications early, improving outcomes for both mother and child. We have deep dived into this topic in our blog post here!
4. Menopause Management
Devices that track temperature and HRV variability help women and clinicians better understand and manage hormonal shifts associated with menopause.
5. Breast and Reproductive Health Research
Researchers are developing skin-adherent sensors to detect early signs of breast cancer or reproductive health anomalies, offering non-invasive, continuous monitoring alternatives.
We have already done a blog post on how today's healthcare needs to change from reactive to proactive, but often, gynecology is seen as a non-primary part of healthcare. Therefore, it is important to emphasize today that these innovations are also redefining women’s health from reactive care to proactive care.
While the potential of wearables in women’s health is very promising, several barriers stand in the way of mainstream adoption and impact:
The rise of women’s health wearables opens new frontiers across the healthcare ecosystem:
For Clinicians:
Continuous monitoring supports earlier diagnosis of hormonal imbalances, stress-related disorders, and sleep disruptions.
For Insurers:
Wearable insights can inform personalized risk scoring, preventive care coverage, and reimbursement models tied to measurable outcomes.
For Researchers:
Access to large, anonymized datasets improves understanding of female physiology and supports evidence-based innovation.
For Women Themselves:
Empowered with their own data, women can advocate for better care, understand their health patterns, and take preventive actions proactively.
This creates a feedback loop where better data leads to better science, which leads to better health outcomes.
Wearables represent a turning point in women’s health, one that combines science, technology, and empowerment. By transforming how we collect, interpret, and act on health data, they give women greater agency and clinicians deeper insight. Yet the path forward requires more than innovation; it actually requires collaboration, validation, and secure data ecosystems that respect privacy and equality.
At Thryve, we’re proud to be part of that journey. By providing the most comprehensive, secure, and interoperable API, we enable digital health pioneers to make women’s health smarter, fairer, and more personalized. With us, you get:
Book a demo with Thryve to help build a fair and transparent women’s health system!
Tigran Kuloian is a working student in content marketing at Thryve. As a digital marketing student, he is sharpening his skills in SEO, social media strategy, and content management by working at Thryve. His background in the creative industries adds a fresh perspective to our marketing strategy. At Thryve, Tigran focuses on shaping engaging, data-driven content that connects innovation in wearable data with audiences across healthcare and technology.
