Device to help decrease mastitis wins award

A wearable device, to help decrease mastitis that affects 30 per cent – as of 2025 – of nursing mothers worldwide, as per the World Health Organisation (WHO), has been adjudged the best innovative idea, from a two-day challenge, which the Expo City Dubai-Women’s Pavilion has hosted.

On Thursday, Jumeirah College Grade 12 student Huda Al-Abaddi, representative of the winning “Bloom Team,” told Gulf Today: “We believe our entry stood out because it provides a simple but practical solution to a far too common barrier in maternal health.”

“Our wearable device is designed to prevent and treat mastitis, a condition affecting millions globally. By catching symptoms early, we can strengthen the bond between mother and child, while reducing the reliance on antibiotics,” she explained.

The contest the Bloom Team participated in was the “FemTech Hackathon 2026,” organised by the Women’s Pavilion and its partners. First held in 2025 “to spotlight the power of young women in technology and their potential to reshape the future of healthcare and wellness,” the competition, Women’s Pavilion head Maha Gorton, added: “brings together developers, entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals, and students. It encourages participants to re-think how technology can better serve women throughout every stage of life.”

Forty-six students, between the ages of 16 and 18, from 20 nationalities “represented themselves individually and not their schools;” up from the 40 2025 participants, out of 100 applicants, initially required to submit proposals.

They were split into 10 teams before the “48-hour high intensity workshop” over the weekend wherein they were mentored, while encouraged to develop their ideas, by “eight experts in scientific research, women’s health, entrepreneurship and technology.”

“We are honoured to have won and to have had the incredible opportunity to participate in and collaborate with so many brilliant young innovators on real-life situations,” said Al-Abaddi. The contestants presented their entries before the jury: Meem Foundation executive director Batool Hassan, Companies Creating Change founder/Global Ventures senior partner Medea Nocentini, Organon-Middle East and Africa Government Affairs associate director Sarah Hariz, and Leading Lines Innovation and Entrepreneurship director Omran Alhabbal.

WHO describes mastitis as an “inflammatory condition” whereby lactating or nursing mothers, may suffer, its severest form, “breast abscess, a localised collection of pus within the breast, resulting from poor breastfeeding techniques.” While it endangers the lives of infants and toddlers, it puts at high risk the mothers to breast cancer.

Thus, all health professionals must also be continually be made aware and be consistently updated on how to assist the pregnant on proper breastfeeding methods especially so that breastfeeding has been internationally promoted.

As the over-all winner, the Bloom Team, according to Gorton, would undergo a “three-month incubation programme and equity-free research & development funding” by PeriCare, “to further develop their solution and ensure market readiness.”

Second placers were the brains behind Luma.

Luma is an Artificial Intelligence-powered business-to-business platform, offering an exclusively female-oriented decision engine that allows clinicians to better diagnose women’s health issues more accurately and efficiently. “The supportive environment encouraged us to tackle big questions with courage. The highlight was the brainstorming sessions.

They helped us bond, shape the Luma concept and refine it with expert mentors who guided us in the right direction,” said team representative Ann Mary Joseph from The Indian High School-Dubai. Third placers were the initiators of the Nutra nutrition app synchronised with women’s menstrual cycles to support healthier lifestyles and habits.

The Nutra Team also got away with the “FemTech Spirit Award” as their workshop teachers saw in them the embodiment of values of innovation and collaboration. “I learned a lot about marketing and what goes into making a successful business. The mentors brought real-world insight to the table; sharing first-hand experiences of building their own businesses,” said team member Hala Hassan from German International School.

All the winners shall have the experience of interacting with members of the women’s health and fem tech community, by way of planned career days and the upcoming “Her Health Summit,” said Gorton. The other winners were from the Al Mawakeb-Al Barsha, GEMS Modern Academy, Kings Al Barsha, Greenwood International School, GEMS American Academy, and American Community School of Abu Dhabi.